Stealing My Heart
by quietthinker
Summary: In my newest romantic comedy, Jimmy's got a problem. He decides to write down his feelings in his English journal, but Cindy snatched it. And she plans on sharing it at her slumber party. Now Jimmy and anybody who's willing to help him must get it back.
1. The Question

**Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron or any related characters.**

Jimmy sat at his desk in history, staring at the blackboard. He took a quick glance at his lecturing teacher, and then turned to the girl in front of him. He looked intently at her shiny golden hair before leaning his head back and sighing.

_Jeez, could middle school be any more boring?_ he sadly thought. He didn't even attempt to pay attention to what his teacher was saying. He was certain that he knew it all already.

Now twelve years old, Jimmy was a sixth-grader at Retroville Middle School. He had been excited about the change all summer, much to the annoyance of his two best friends. While they were discussing the new movies that they wanted to see over vacation, Jimmy was talking about how challenging he hoped the classes would be.

As could be expected, the school didn't quite meet up to his, or anybody else's, expectations. It was exactly the same as Lindbergh Elementary, but with more work. And as an added bonus, they were now at the bottom of the social barrel. As many of the kids learned the first week of school, eight-graders _really_ hate younger kids.

At any rate, Jimmy decided to begin tapping out a song on his desk with his pencil. This quickly stopped when he looked up and saw Cindy's ponytail swish back and forth as she shook her head to Libby's unheard question. _God, can you stay out of my head for five seconds?_

While his school environment might not have changed much, his feelings for Cindy definitely had. A preteen entering puberty, Jimmy's hormones were raging. He cursed the foul demons that rushed through his blood, yet loved them at the same time. He might not be able to get any work done or focus on anything but Cindy, but there was a silver lining.

His hormones had focused entirely on Cindy. Everything that he had hated about Cindy he suddenly loved. Her scowl brightened his mornings. Her constant put-downs sounded like her declaring her love for him. Even her stupid ankle-showing pants had grown on him. She was utterly, and flawlessly, perfect to him now.

Which made day-to-day life even harder for him. After all, how was he expected to scream and argue every day with the one girl he loved? And it wasn't like he could ask her out. He had convinced himself that she still hated him. After all, why else would she constantly insult him?

_Well, maybe not **constantly**, _he thought to himself. _I mean, we sit at the same lunch table. And we go on adventures together. Actually_, he thought with a striking realization, _we hardly ever fight anymore. That means..._

His teacher quickly interrupted his ground-breaking thoughts. "Well, Mr. Neutron?"

Jimmy quickly snapped himself out of his thoughts. The whole class stared at him. "Um, sorry?"

"Answer the question, Jimmy," his teacher sternly instructed him.

Jimmy gulped and rubbed the back of his neck. "Um, uh...well, Europe?"

The class burst into laughter. Mr. Doe shook his head in disappointment. "So, you're saying that the colonists gained their freedom from England in the year Europe?"

Jimmy smiled his wide, innocent smile. "Well, yes," he defiantly said.

Mr. Doe once again shook his head and asked the Cindy for the proper answer. "1776," she said with a wide grin. She spun around and stuck her tongue out at Jimmy. "Was that question too hard for you, Jimmy? Or is that stupid hair of yours growing inside your head and penetrating your brain?"

Jimmy, once again deep in thought about Cindy, just mumbled, "Uh, yeah. Guess it is."

Cindy stared oddly at him for a moment before turning back around. "Freak," she muttered underneath her breath.

Jimmy slammed his head against the desk and closed his eyes. _If I keep on hiding my feelings for her, I'll get so distracted that I'll never make it to seventh grade_, he sadly thought before lifting his head up slightly and slamming it back down onto his desk.


	2. The Journal

**Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron or any related characters.**

"So basically, that's how the west was won," Jimmy explained to Sheen and Carl as they walked into English class as the bell rang.

"Huh," Sheen muttered as he took his seat behind Libby. "Hey girlfriend," he happily said while kissing her cheek.

"Hi boyfriend," Libby sweetly said while giving Sheen a quick peck on the lips.

Cindy stared at the two lovers with mild disgust before turning around and facing Jimmy. "Hello _boyfriend_," she said with deep sarcasm before lightly kissing Jimmy on the cheek. She then spun around and glared at Sheen and Libby before turning her attention back to the open book on her desk.

Carl, Sheen, and Libby looked on in amusement at the shocked Jimmy. "You okay there?" Carl nervously asked while waving his hand in front of Jimmy's face.

Sheen and Libby smiled at each other. "He'll be fine. Just getting over a little kiss from his love," Libby teased while opening her book.

Jimmy shook his head violently and glared angrily at Libby. "What are you talking about? I definitely don't like Cindy," he said.

"What?" Cindy sadly asked while turning around.

Jimmy cleared his throat and pulled on the collar of his shirt. "I mean, you know, in _that _way," he nervously told her.

Just then their teacher, Mrs. Wolf, walked in. "Jimmy, Cindy, stop flirting," she casually instructed while walking behind her desk and opening a drawer.

Jimmy and Cindy blushed as the other kids giggled. They buried their heads in their silent reading books.

"Kids, put away your silent reading books. I have a new assignment," Mrs. Wolf told her students while pulling dozens of small white notebooks out of her drawer. She scowled as the kids began groaning and putting their books away.

"Another assignment?" Nick complained while leaning his head back and staring up at the ceiling. "This school is ridiculous!"

"Oh just shut the hell up!" Mrs. Wolf shouted while throwing one of the notebooks at Nick's head. "Here is your new assignment. For the next few weeks you will write in these journals. Write whatever you want, I'm not taking time out of my schedule to read every word."

Nick suddenly became interested. "We can swear?"

Mrs. Wolf strolled over to Nick's desk and bent down. She looked Nick in the eyes and said, "Well, if you're not going to tell anyone that I do, then I won't tell the principal you do."

Nick nodded his head at the deal. "Cool."

Mrs. Wolf also nodded and stood up straight once again. "Pass these out," she said while tossing the rest of the stack of journals on top of Cindy's desk. Cindy looked up at her for a moment. "Hey, Blondie, move it." Cindy nodded and jumped up out of her seat.

"Now write your name on the inside cover and get writing. Do a page a day or whatever. Now if you'll excuse me..."

Jimmy raised his hand, having just gotten yet another brilliant idea. "Mrs. Wolf?"

Mrs. Wolf sighed. She bent her head down and rubbed her aching temple. "What is it, Soft Serve?"

Jimmy felt his hair for a moment before shaking off the remark. "Um, we can write about anything?"

"Yeah, anything you want," she explained while turning around and walking back to her desk.

"And you promise not to read what's in it?" he asked hopefully.

Mrs. Wolf took a sip of the questionable liquid in her thermos. "Yeah. Won't read it. Just get to work, okay?"

Jimmy nodded his head and opened up his journal. He quickly scribbled his name on the inside of the cover and began tapping his pencil against his desk in excitement.

_This is perfect_, he thought while staring ahead at Cindy. _The perfect way to vent out my feelings for Cindy without telling anyone! A journal! I can't believe I didn't think of it before!_ Done thinking for now, he quickly set to work writing in his journal.

Everything he had been holding in for the past few years he wrote down in that wondrous notebook. Their adventures, the love potion, being stranded on the island, his borderline obsession, everything he had ever felt that even slightly related to Cindy was put down on those pages. By the time the rest of the class had finished their first page, Jimmy was on his tenth.

At last finished, he looked up at the clock. _Just in time. We should break for lunch any second_, he thought while leaning back in his chair and closing his eyes. As he lifted up his right hand to wipe his forehead, he accidentally knocked the open journal off of his desk.

Cindy turned around when she heard the soft _thump_ of the journal hitting the floor. In a good mood, she bent down to pick it up for Jimmy.

"NO!" Jimmy desperately shouted while jumping off of his seat and onto the floor. He snatched the book out of Cindy's hands and slammed into Sheen's desk.

"What the hell are you doing?" Mrs. Woods shouted.

Everyone stared at Jimmy. "I...fell," he told them while slowly, and painfully, getting to his feet. _Thank god_, he whispered inside his head as the bell rang. He threw the now closed journal back onto his desk and ran outside into the hall. The rest of the class followed him as they darted towards the cafeteria.

Cindy stayed behind a moment and stared curiously at the journal on Jimmy's desk.


	3. The Theft

**Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron or any related characters.**

Jimmy, Sheen, and Carl returned from lunch twenty minutes later. "And that's why I'm not playing hooky again," Jimmy said with a shudder as he sat down at his desk.

As Carl and Sheen took their seats, Libby and Cindy came bursting in. "Thanks a lot for waiting for us!" Cindy angrily yelled while slapping Jimmy in the back of the head before sitting down.

"Yeah!" Libby agreed while hitting the back of Sheen's head.

"Ow! Why the violence?" Sheen asked while rubbing where Libby had just hit him.

Cindy and Libby looked at each other, silently asking each other why they hung out with idiots. "You completely abandoned us back there!" Cindy shouted.

Libby folded her arms and nodded. "Yeah! Jeez, we say we have to use the restroom for a minute on the way back from lunch and when we come out you guys are gone!"

Sheen held up his hands. "Yeah, you said _one_ minute! You guys were in there for like an hour!"

"Three minutes and twenty seconds," Jimmy muttered.

"Like I said, an hour!" Sheen told Libby. "We were going to be late!"

As the five kids continued their squabbling, the rest of their English class began filing in. As they usually did, Sheen, Carl, Libby, Cindy, and Jimmy put aside their argument for now as to not make a scene. "We'll continue this after school," Libby angrily whispered to Sheen.

"Oh, welcome back," Mrs. Wolf muttered to the class before plopping down behind her desk. She picked up the book she had been reading and turned the page. "Um, Brandy, pass out the papers."

Brittany sighed and got up. She walked over to the teacher's desk, grabbed the papers, and began to pass them out. "Everybody, pass your journals up. I'll hold onto them," she the told class.

Jimmy's expression changed from mild anger towards Cindy to utter disbelief. He finally realized that his journal was no longer on his desk. He looked under his chair and across the floor. "Miss Wolf!" he shouted while thrusting his hand up into the air.

"What do you want?" she said without looking up.

"I lost my journal!" Jimmy shouted. "Did you pick it up while we were at lunch?" he asked, although he severely doubted this.

Miss Wolf chuckled. "Do you really think that I'd do any work during my lunch break?"

Jimmy slammed his head onto his desk. _Ok, focus Jimmy. I'm sure it just fell on the floor and the janitor swept it away when I was at lunch._ Jimmy laughed nervously at how he had overreacted. "Are you going to deduct points from my grade because of this?" he asked.

Once again, Miss Wolf laughed. "Yeah, like I'm going to take the time to put grades in that stupid grade book," she said while flipping another page in her novel.

Jimmy tried to forget the whole stupid mess when he got his worksheet. He tried to clear his mind and answer the questions. But he soon realized that this whole thing was a lot worse than he had imagined. When he dropped his pencil on the floor and bent over to retrieve it, his face fell as he noticed something.

_The floor!_ his subconscious shouted. The floor was absolutely filthy. Dust, tissues, and food wrappers were everywhere around his and his friend's desks. _The janitor couldn't have been here!_ And as that thought crossed his mind, the adventure truly began.

"Carl," he whispered while turning to the desk behind him.

"Hang on," Carl said while finishing writing down his answer. "Is the answer to number three Edgar Allen Poe?"

Jimmy quickly glanced back at his own paper. Question three asked who wrote _Romeo & Juliet._ He turned his attention back to Carl and stared at him in amazement for a moment. "Yes," he said monotonously. "Yes it is."

"Alright, thanks," Carl said while moving on to number four.

"Hey!" Jimmy shouted. "I think somebody took my journal!"

Glad to have an excuse to stop working, Carl put down his pencil and focused on Jimmy. "Why do you think that?"

Jimmy tilted his head, put a finger to his lips, and crossed his eyes. "Uh," he said in a stupid voice, "me no know." He then lunged forward and grabbed Carl's collar. "Maybe because it's missing!" he angrily whispered in Carl's face.

"Are you sure you didn't just lose it?" Sheen asked while shoving his head into their discussion.

"Yes..." Jimmy started to say, but paused to stare at Sheen for a moment, wondering how he came into this conversation. "Uh, yeah I am. I threw it onto the desk before lunch."

Libby suddenly lifted her head up from where she was crouching down to gather her dropped paper near Jimmy's desk. "Yeah, I saw you do it. You wrote a lot you know."

The guys all jumped a little as Libby seemed to suddenly materialize from nowhere. "Hmmmm," Carl thought.

"What?" the other three asked. Cindy smiled a little as she overheard their conversation.

"Someone knows you must have written something important. They probably want to read it," Carl told them.

It felt as if someone had literally taken Jimmy's whole body and ripped it in half. The thought of anyone reading what he had just written made him sick. _And what if they share it with everyone! _That thought nearly made Jimmy throw up.

"God," Jimmy muttered.

"I don't think he did it," Sheen quickly told the group.

"You four!" Ms. Wolf shouted. The four kids quickly spun around and looked at her. "Break it up and get to work!"

"Carl and Sheen, meet me at the Candy Bar after school. We'll figure out something there," Jimmy quickly said before they split up and went back to their work.


	4. The Plan

**Disclaimer: I don't own Jimmy Neutron or any related characters.**

Jimmy sat rapping his knuckles against his table at the Candy Bar. He kept glancing from his watch to the window. _God, where are they?_ Just then, Sheen and Carl walked through the front door.

"Hey Jimmy!" Sheen shouted while waving at his friend and walking over to his table.

Jimmy ran his hands through his hair in relief. "Where the heck were you guys? We were supposed to meet here at exactly three o' clock!"

Sheen and Carl looked at each other with confused expressions. Sheen grabbed Jimmy's wrist and looked down at his watch. "It's only five past three. Chill."

Jimmy scowled and ripped his wrist from Sheen's grasp. "Well this is an emergency situation! Every second counts! We've got to get that journal back before whoever took it reads it! Or worse, shares it with someone!"

Sheen waited until Sam had walked by and then put his feet up on the table. "Jimmy, I'm sorry, but I'm not seeing the big deal here."

Carl nodded. "I mean, so what if someone reads your journal. It's just a bunch of science mumbo-jumbo, right? They probably won't even understand it. Sheen and I _never_ know what you're talking about."

Jimmy pulled his collar a little due to his increasing nervousness. "It's, uh, not a bunch of science mumbo-jumbo, as you've so eloquently put it."

Sheen shrugged and began tossing a salt shaker in the air and catching it. "Well, what else is so important that you would have written so much about?" he asked. He suddenly froze and put the salt shaker back down on the table. He glanced over at Carl, who had the same look of sudden understanding etched across his face.

They turned towards Jimmy and smiled widely. "Oh," they both said.

"What?" Jimmy nervously asked.

Carl got up from his seat and sat beside Jimmy. Sheen hopped over the table and sat on the other side of Jimmy.

Sheen put his arm around Jimmy's neck and looked upwards. "But soft! What light through yonder window breaks?"

Carl then put his arm around Jimmy's shoulder and pointed upwards. All three looked at the ceiling. "It is the east, and Juliet is the sun."

Sheen and Carl high fived each other and went back to their seats. Jimmy looked at them in amazement. "You can recite that," he asked Carl, "but you don't know that Shakespeare wrote it?"

"Don't change the subject," Sheen wisely said while grinning widely at Jimmy. The journal's about you know who and now we know who. And as a new member in the club of love, I will do anything I can to help. If anyone ever read my journal of Libby..."

Jimmy and Carl stared quizzically at Sheen. "You, uh, keep a journal of Libby?" an amused Jimmy asked.

Sheen bent forward and stared Jimmy in the eyes. "Oh, like you're one to talk." Jimmy held his hands up in a sign of defeat.

"Alright, so you guys will help?" Jimmy asked, his eyes wide with hope.

"Just tell us what to do," Sheen offered.

Jimmy breathed a sigh of relief. "Alright, good." He motioned for the other guys to lean forward. They bent their heads in the center of the table. "The way I see it, there are three main suspects," Jimmy whispered.

"The first is Butch," Jimmy said with disgust. "He's a huge bully, and he would like nothing more to humiliate me. And with that journal, the possibilities are endless."

The guys nodded their heads at Jimmy's logic. "Who's number two?" Carl asked.

"Nick Dean," Jimmy continued. "Self-proclaimed cool guy. Me and him have always had some issues, as I'm sure you know. Stealing my journal seems exactly the kind of thing Nick would do for kicks."

Sheen and Carl nodded once more. Sheen elbowed Carl. "Three guesses as to who suspect three is," he sarcastically muttered.

"And as I'm sure you've guessed by now," Jimmy said, "the last suspect is Cindy herself. She's played more jokes on me and humiliated me more times than the rest of the class put together. Reading my innermost thoughts is exactly the sick type of thing this blonde Siren would do."

"So we've got three suspects," Sheen pondered aloud, "and three of us."

"We're going to need to split up and tail them," Jimmy needlessly explained. "If they have my journal, it would be in their backpacks. School's barely let out, I'm sure nobody's dropped theirs off at home yet."

"Who's tailing who?" Carl asked.

"Nick will take Sheen, you'll take Butch," Jimmy paused for a moment to clear his throat, "and I'll take Cindy."

"I never would have guessed," Sheen sardonically muttered under his breath. "When do we start?"

"Right now," Jimmy said. "Let's go."


	5. The Tournament

**Disclaimer: As of January 10, 2006, I do not own Jimmy Neutron or any related characters.**

Sheen jumped out of the Candy Bar and hid behind a telephone pole. He quickly peeked his head out to see if he could find Nick nearby. Slightly dismayed that he couldn't immediately find him, he began to slowly walk down the street. His disappointment quickly faded, however, as he realized exactly where he could find Nick.

Twenty minutes later, Sheen burst out of the library. "Man, I was almost certain about that one," he mumbled while stuffing his hands in his pockets and kicking a rock. "Might as well head home," he said to himself while continuing down the street.

"Move it Shine!" Nick desperately shouted while swerving his skateboard out of the way of Sheen.

"It's Sheen!" he shouted back. After a moment, Sheen realized that he had just found his target. He looked up and saw with despair that Nick was nearly out of sight. He realized that he would never be able to follow him on foot.

"Hey, where's the park?" a kid of about nine asked Sheen. He was holding a skateboard in one hand and a helmet in the other. "There's a tournament in half an hour and I've got to make it."

Sheen stared at the kid for a moment. His eyes darted between the skateboard and the kid's disturbed face.

"Dude, you alright?" the kid asked while taking a step back.

Sheen ripped the skateboard from the kid's hands and hopped onto it. He kicked off and started flying down the street. "Uh oh," he nervously shouted as he slammed into a trash can.

"Wait!" the kid desperately shouted while running after Sheen. "Safety first, you jerk!" he screamed while chucking the helmet at Sheen, which hit him hard in the head.

* * *

Sheen flew down the street, the helmet now strapped around his head. "Move it!" he shouted at the various people walking along the sidewalk.

"Watch it!" Sam shouted as Sheen narrowly avoided passing him as he flew by the Candy Bar.

"I don't know how to stop!" Sheen shot back. Unfortunately, turning around while on a skateboard is not such a good idea. He crashed into Nick, who was talking to some girl from his class. They landed hard on the ground, with Sheen lying on top of Nick.

"What," Nick asked while shoving Sheen off of him, "are you doing?"

Sheen quickly jumped off of the boy hopped back on his skateboard. He turned to the girl and eyed her for a moment. He extended his thumb and pinky finger and held it up to his ear and mouth. "Call me," he mouthed. He then kicked off and began coasting down the street. An extremely mad Nick was now chasing after him.

Sheen, not having learned his lesson, risked a look behind him. "Wow, I'm beating Nick!" he shouted with glee. The gap between him and Nick was slowly widening. He was still smiling widely when he turned back around and realized he was heading down the biggest hill in the city.

"Holy crap!" he shouted while ducking just as a tree branch appeared in front of his head. He carefully straightened himself up. "Wow, you don't usually see a branch in the middle of a sidewa..." he started to say to himself before getting hit in the face with another tree branch.

"Darn stupid kids!" he shouted at the tree while collapsing onto his skateboard. He was now soaring down the hill with incredible speed while laying with his back on the skateboard. Nick watched with amusement while ducking underneath the branches.

Sheen closed his eyes and gathered what was left of his courage. With unbelievable skill, he managed to strand up and regain his composure without crashing. He opened his eyes quickly, but his expression changed to one of horror as he realized what was about to happen. "Aw COME ON!" he angrily screamed.

Sheen slammed smack-dab into Butch, who was grabbing Carl by the collar. "Sheen?" Carl asked while he and some little kid ran over.

Sheen, not having time to worry about his friend at the moment, jumped to his feet and grabbed the skateboard. He headed off on foot towards the park, Nick not far behind.

As Sheen ran as fast as he could into the skating area of the park, he braced himself up against a wall as Nick came rolling in. "Got ya now, you little freak!" Nick shouted while jumping off of his board and menacingly advancing towards Sheen. Sheen turned towards the wall and covered his head with his arms.

"And it looks like contestant number five has finally shown up! Everyone get ready to see Nick Dean skate!" a voice came from over a loudspeaker.

"Huh?" Nick and Sheen asked while spinning around. They realized that the skating tournament was underway.

Nick glared angrily at Sheen. "We'll finish this later," he said while shoving his finger at Sheen's face. He grabbed his skateboard and climbed to the top of the half-pipe.

Sheen, breathing a huge sigh of relief, took a few steps forward. He watched with interest as Nick performed various tricks. He impatiently tapped his foot. He would have to wait until Nick was done to examine Nick's backpack. It was lying near the announcer's booth, in plain sight of everyone.

"Wonderful job!" the announcer shouted into his microphone as Nick stepped off of the ramp. Looking over at Sheen waiting by the ramp and clutching his skateboard, he motioned for Nick to walk over. "Is that guy in the tournament?"

Nick looked over at Sheen and began laughing, but immediately put on a straight face. "Oh yes. His name's Shine Estavaz. Call him up here."

The announcer nodded. "Next up in the third annual skating tournament is skater Shine Estavez!"

Sheen's head shout up. "It's Sheen!" He paused for a moment. "And I'm up for _what_?" he shouted. He looked over at the booth and saw Nick smiling at him.

Sheen gulped and walked over to the announcer and Nick. He then stared up at the menacing half-pipe. "You, uh, want me to ride on that?"

Nick nodded. "Break a leg," he said with a grin while smacking Sheen hard across the back.

Sheen turned around and stared at the announcer. He then glanced down at his skateboard. His eyes quickly darted between the two before he chucked the skateboard at the announcer, grabbed Nick's backpack, and ran away like hell.


	6. The Revolution

**Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron or any related characters.**

Carl jumped out of the Candy Bar and glanced around. "Where are you, Butch? Where are you?" he mumbled to himself while squinting his eyes and glaring around.

Jimmy tapped Carl's shoulder and motioned back inside. "He, uh, hasn't left yet," Jimmy said.

"Oh," Carl said. "Thanks."

Carl went back inside and took a seat in a booth a few seats down from Butch. He picked up the menu and held it up. Slowly, carefully, he peeked around it. "Got ya," he said with a sly grin as he eyed Butch.

"What'll it be?" Sam asked.

"Shhh," Carl whispered. "Nothing, Mr. Sam. I'm spying someone."

Sam glared down at his best customer. "If you aren't eating than you have to leave!" he said in an angry tone. Several customers turned around and stared at the two.

"Fine!" Carl angrily mumbled. "Get me a chocolate shake!" he said while reaching deep into his pocket and pulling out a handful of dimes.

Carl resumed his staring at Butch, who was shoveling down ice cream at a pace that would put Carl to shame. But as Carl's milkshake arrived, he got distracted. _Focus, Carl. Jimmy needs you._ He tried to keep his gaze fixed on the pudgy bully, but he couldn't focus. _Well, it's not like he's going anywhere soon_, he reasoned.

Twenty minutes later, Carl lay back in his seat, clutching his stomach. In front of him lay two empty bowls of ice cream as well as the last sips of his original chocolate shake. _Ok, back to work_. He looked up to where Butch had been sitting and suddenly jumped off of his seat.

Butch was no longer there. He ran up to his classmate Ike. "Ike, where did Butch go?"

Ike pulled his sunglasses down in his nose a little and stared at the kid in front of him. "You're _looking _for Butch?" he said with a smile.

Carl grabbed the boy's collar and pulled him close to his face. "Where did he go? A child's social life is at stake!"

Ike shoved Carl off of him, a look of concern etched across his face. "What's wrong? Your friend's about to get beat up and humiliated?"

Carl nervously shook his head. "Worse! Butch may have knowledge of my friend's crush!"

Ike looked away, his lower lip trembling. "Butch spreading a guy's crush. That's an emotional bully. And that's the worst kind," he angrily said while clenching his fist.

Carl grabbed Ike's shoulder. "What's wrong?"

Ike spun away. "I, I had a similar experience once."

Carl took a seat next to Ike. "What happened?"

Ike struggled to keep his eye from twitching. He finally let out a deep sigh, ready to relay his horrible tale. "It was three years ago. Almost to this very day. I, I made the mistake of telling the name of my crush to a person who I thought was my friend. He, he told everyone."

Ike paused for a moment to regain myself. "Do you know what it's like to be branded a girl-liker in the third grade? The torment, the _pain_," he whispered to himself.

Carl looked at Ike with pity. "I, I'm sorry."

Ike shook Carl's hand off of his shoulder. He spun around and stared Carl square in the eyes. "Don't let it happen, man. Don't let it happen again!" he shouted.

Carl nodded. "Where did he go, Ike? Where's Butch!"

Ike wiped away a tear. "Somewhere near the park." Carl nodded and started to run off, but Ike grabbed his arm and halted him. "He won't be there for long, man. I don't think you'll make it there on foot. Don't let it happen again," he repeated

Carl gently moved Ike's hand off of his arm. He nodded at his new friend. "I'll get him," whispered before darting out of the restaurant. Ike stared after him for a moment before breaking down in tears.

Carl slid to a stop after he ran out onto the sidewalk. _Ok, I can't get there on foot. I'll need some wheels. _He looked around. Nearby was a car with its windows rolled down, a bike, and a skateboard. "Aha!" he happily shouted.

"Move it, granny! This is an emergency!" he shouted while shoving an elderly woman away from her electric scooter.

"You darn kids!" she shouted while smacking him as hard as she could with her cane.

Carl attempted to shield himself and get the machine started. "Ride, Carl! Ride like the wind!" Ike shouted while running outside and falling to his knees, still crying.

Carl hit the gas and barreled down the street at an excess of three miles an hour.

Nearly twenty minutes later, he finally approached the park. He breathed a sigh of relief as he saw that Butch was still there. He dumped the scooter and ran the final few yards towards the bully.

"Dude, I don't want any trouble," a kid of about six was saying while holding his hands up. He was slowly backing away from Butch.

"Just give me your money and there won't be any trouble!" Butch growled while smacking his fist into his palm.

"Hey, stop!" Carl whimpered as he took a step towards Butch.

Butch didn't hear Carl as he rushed towards the kid. The young boy jumped out of the way and rolled across the ground as the bully flew past him. "That's it, little man! You're going down! And you too, tubby!" Butch shouted while menacingly walking over to the boy.

"Help me!" the kid pleaded while grabbing onto Carl.

Just as Butch grabbed onto Carl's collar and picked him up off of the ground, Sheen flew by on a skateboard and ran straight into Butch. "Aw COME ON!" he shouted right before he flew off of the skateboard and landed on top of Butch.

Carl and the boy looked at each other for a moment before running over to the fallen bully. "Sheen?" Carl asked.

Ignoring Carl, Sheen hopped back onto his skateboard and flew off. Nick quickly zoomed by as well, staring angrily at Carl.

"Thanks, mister," the kid graciously told Carl.

"Yeah," Carl said while taking out his inhaler, "whatever." He took a few puffs before shoving it back into his pocket. "What's your name?"

"Adam," the kid said while turning around. The unconscious Butch was beginning to come to.

"Oh no," Carl whimpered while backing away.

Adam frowned at the bully and cupping his hands around his mouth. "The bully is down! Attack now!" he shouted as loud as he could.

Carl watched in amazement as dozens of first-graders appeared on the scene. They ran out of bushes and hopped down from trees. They ran at Butch and beat him into further submission.

"We've got him, Adam!" a girl shouted while turning around proudly, clutching a slightly bloody stick. "He won't be stealing any of our stuff again anytime soon!"

Adam smiled. "Good work, Sandy." He turned towards Carl and smiled. "Thanks to your pathetically small amount of help and your friend on the skateboard, the revolution is over. We've beaten Butch!" The crowd behind him cheered.

"Um, that's great," Carl nervously whispered. He grabbed Butch's backpack off of the ground. "But I've got to go now," he said while running away, a little frightened by the mob of children.


	7. The Theater

**Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron or any related characters.**

After Jimmy directed Carl back inside the Candy Bar, he headed back to his house. Unlike the others, he had an array of inventions prepared incase of an emergency such as this. He slid to a stop outside his lab's door and painfully plucked a brown hair from his head. He held it up into the DNA scanner and waited for the door to swing open.

Once Jimmy entered his lab, he walked over to his shelves filled with inventions. He stared at them admiringly for a moment before carefully pulling a couple off of the shelves.

He put a small, but powerful, pair of binoculars in his pocket. He then took off his backpack and dumped the contents of it onto his floor. He put in a device that looked like a laser gun, but was actually a listening device. He threw in a pair of headphones that went with it. He then dashed over to his closet and threw on some sunglasses and a baseball hat. He struggled to stuff the hat over his enormous hair.

Once that was done, he strolled over to Goddard, who lay sleeping in a corner. He patted his head and then slung his backpack over his shoulder. He turned around to stare at the wonder that was his laboratory before going back inside.

As Jimmy closed the door to his clubhouse, he heard a familiar voice across the street. He ducked behind the side of the small wooden building and peered his head out a little. He smiled as he saw Cindy and Libby leave the Vortex's house.

Waiting until they were a short distance away, he sprinted across his yard and dove into some bushes. He pulled some of the leaves away from his face and looked at the two girls across the street. He jumped out, rolled across the lawn, and hid behind a tree.

This little game continued for about twenty minutes. At that time, Cindy and Libby entered the Retroville Mall. A tired, dirty, and slightly bloody Jimmy hobbled after them.

After following the two ladies for nearly an hour, he discovered what most men already know. Watching women shop is incredibly boring. Jimmy was sitting down on a bench outside the store Cindy and Libby were in, hitting his head against it just to have something to do.

At long last, he finally decided to use his inventions. He opened his backpack and pulled out his listening device. He plugged the headphones into it and pulled them over his ears. He aimed the device at the two girls and pressed the trigger. With his other hand, he pulled the binoculars out of his pocket.

"So, what do you think?" Cindy asked while walking out of a dressing room. Jimmy noticed the backpack that lay by her.

Libby eyed her with a smile. "What? Do I think that this dress will make You Know Who fall head over heels in love with you?"

Cindy gave her best friend a playful smirk before spinning around and looking at herself in the mirror. "Jeez, I don't think anyone could resist me in this. Not even _him_."

Jimmy's jaw hung slightly as he stared at Cindy through the binoculars. She looked absolutely _stunning_ in the emerald green dress she had on. His gaze shifted downwards to her legs before he shook himself out of it. "Alright, focus," he said to himself. "You have a job to do." He paused a moment. "And who the heck is You Know Who?"

He took a few deep breaths and lifted the binoculars up again. He frowned as he saw her go back inside the dressing room. He was about to put the binoculars down when he remembered that he had incorporated an X-ray mode into the binoculars.

Jimmy's eyes quickly darted from the binoculars in his hand to the store. _No, _he thought. _No. That would be absolutely wrong._ He put his binoculars down and patiently waited for Cindy to come out of the dressing room. But his finger's nervous tapping quickly changed into his whole hand shaking. He reached for the binoculars, but then quickly drew his hand away.

"What's that?" a boy a couple of years younger than him asked, pointing to the listening device.

Jimmy stared down at the kid. He took off his headphones and placed the listening device down on the bench. "You want something cool for free?" he asked. The kid nodded. "Take this," he said and thrust the binoculars into the boy's hands. "Just don't let me have it back, no matter what I say. Ok?"

"Sure," the kid replied while eyeing his new toy. He started to walk away when he heard Jimmy's voice.

"Kid?" he sheepishly asked.

The boy spun around. "What?"

"Can I have that back, please?" he nervously asked while nervously glancing back to the store.

The kid stared at him, confused. "But you just said..."

"I was kidding. Can I please have it back?" he pleaded while standing up.

The boy took a few steps back, looking at Jimmy with fear. He then turned around and ran away. "Leave me alone!" he shouted.

"Wait! Give it back!" Jimmy shouted while running after him.

"I need an adult!" the kid wailed as he continued running.

* * *

"Get your hands off of me!" an angry Jimmy shouted while a security guard led him out of his office.

The obese man leaned down and stared at Jimmy. "If you scare any more little kids, you're going to get it!" he sternly said before turning around and walking back to his post.

"_If you scare any kids again you're going to get it_," Jimmy whispered in a mocking tone while walking back to where he had left his stuff.

He breathed a sigh of relief as he saw that his backpack and the listening device was still at the bench. He put the machine back in his backpack and swung the pack over his shoulder.

He was about to head out of the mall when he froze. He took a few steps back and looked to his right. He smiled as he saw Cindy and Libby standing in front of food cart. He hid behind a large potted tree and tried to listen.

"Here you go," Cindy said while handing the man some money. She took a bite out of her pretzel and turned towards Libby, who was fidgeting slightly. "What's wrong?"

"I have to go to the ladies' room," she whispered.

"So?"

"I don't know where it is," she moaned.

Cindy smiled and pointed straight ahead. Libby muttered a quick _thank you_ and ran of in that direction. Cindy shook her head and laughed a little as she followed after her.

Jimmy stealthily followed her, matching her movements step by step, hiding behind every bench, trash can, and potted plant. She was only about ten feet to his right. But as he glanced over to her, he froze in shock.

Cindy had just taken a bite out of her pretzel and noticed Cindy run into the ladies' room. Once she was sure that her friend couldn't see her, she reached into her pocket and took out a pearl. She stared at it longingly for a moment before throwing it up into the air a little and catching it. She smiled at it for another second before putting it back inside her pocket.

Jimmy stared in amazement as she did this. _My god, it's the pearl. She still has it._ Jimmy groaned and leaned back against the potted tree behind him. He slid down it and landed in a crumpled heap on the floor.

_It's been over a year, and she still has it. She keeps the pearl, she kisses my cheek, and she barely ever insults me. She calls me her friend and helps me when I need her. Yet I still think she would steal from me?_ Jimmy slapped himself on the forehead. "You stupid idiot," he muttered.

Jimmy lay like that for a moment. He heard Libby emerge from the bathroom, and then the two girls walking past him. Closing his eyes and thinking, he sadly shook his head. _Yeah, I'm an ass. But I better be sure_. He paused a moment before jumping up and following the two girls.

He watched as they bought two tickets in front of the movie theatre. Sighing, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a ten dollar bill. He handed it to the man behind the booth. "One ticket to whatever those two girls just bought. And keep the change," he glumly said.

Jimmy walked inside the dark theatre just as the giant screen flickered to life. He smiled a little. It was almost completely dark. He could find Cindy, sneak up next to her, check her backpack, run out, and she would never know. He stood against the wall and eyed the audience. "Bingo," he said as he found her sitting a few rows down. He got down on his hands and knees and began to crawl over.

"Coming this summer," the announcer in the trailer boomed, "the newest thriller. A tale that will leave you screaming with fright."

Jimmy exhaled and roll his eyes. He'd choose a documentary over some stupid horror film any day.

"Someone's watched one too many scary movies." Jimmy slowly continued crawling across the floor to Cindy's aisle.

Cindy and Libby looked at each other for a moment, silently sharing their disdain for what looked like another cheesy thriller.

"He's not trying to kill us. He's trying to separate us," a blonde girl said onscreen.

Jimmy stopped to catch his breath. He was at the entrance to Cindy's aisle. She sat a mere three feet from him. He just had to reach out his hand and grab her backpack.

Onscreen, a brown-haired boy slowly reached towards a doorknob. "The game has only just begun," a distorted voice creepily muttered.

Jimmy stretched as far as he could, trying not to brush his arm against Cindy's legs. _Yes!_ he screamed inside his head as his right arm clenched down on her backpack. He slowly pulled it towards him.

"Bloody Rain. The game's only just begun," the announcer said as a masked killer jumped out of the door and attacked the boy. The audience screamed, including Cindy. She kicked out her legs and covered her eyes, inadvertently kicking Jimmy in the stomach.

"Ow!" he shouted. The shout of pain filled the theater. Cindy looked down at Jimmy, who was stretching over her feet and grabbing her backpack. "Oh. Hi Cind," he said while flashing his innocent smile.

She stared at him angrily for a moment before drawing back her fist.


	8. The Betrayal

**Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron or any related characters.**

"Loser!" Sheen shouted while skateboarding down the street. He kicked the ground again and gained a little speed. Nick's backpack hung around his shoulder. He jumped over a fire hydrant and spun around. He laughed a little. _This is supposed to be hard?_

Nick tried to imitate Sheen, but crashed into the hydrant, _again_. "Give me back that bag you little freak!" he shouted while getting back onto his board. A mob that contained dozens of skateboarders caught up with him. "Move!" Nick shouted while kicking off.

As Sheen continued gliding down the sidewalk Carl appeared from a side street. He looked over at Sheen and smiled. Sheen nodded his head. Carl ran over and jumped onto the skateboard. He and Sheen began to kick the ground simultaneously.

"You find the journal?" Carl asked.

Sheen shook his head. "I'm guessing that you didn't?" Carl shook his head.

"You're gonna get it!" Nick shouted, his gang of boarders right beside him.

Carl glanced behind him. "What the heck is going on?"

Sheen gulped. "It's a long story," he mumbled.

They both heard a sickening _crack _beneath their feet. Carl and Sheen looked down to see the skateboard split in half under their combined weight. Sheen threw Carl an angry glance. "Would it kill you to get the _diet_ soda once in a while!"

They both nervously glanced behind them to see Nick's mob closing in on them. They jumped to their feet and continued running down the street. Sheen pointed ahead and shouted in relief as they passed a corner. "It's Jimmy's house! And there he is!"

Jimmy angrily mumbled to himself as he rubbed his bloody lip. "Stupid Cindy. You know what? Forget the necklace for her birthday. I'm enrolling her in anger management." He was taking his house key out of his pocket when he heard Carl and Sheen shouting.

"Jimmy! Open the door!" they both screamed while running towards them.

He stared at them quizzically for a moment. Just then the angry mob rounded the corner. "Get them! And that Neutron kid too!" Nick shouted as he led his gang down the street.

Carl tripped and grabbed Sheen's arm to stabilize himself. Unfortunately, he ended up pulling Sheen down with him. "We've got to get to Jimmy's house!" Sheen shouted. He looked up to see Jimmy run inside the house and lock the door. He stared at Carl. "Um, do you have a plan B, by any chance?"

The mob of angry skaters surrounded the two. Carl and Sheen nervously laughed as the boys closed in on them.

* * *

The next day, Jimmy, Carl, and Sheen were limping towards the Candy Bar. Sheen took off his sunglasses to reveal two black eyes. "Incase I haven't said it in the last two minutes, I hate you, Jimmy."

Jimmy was still rubbing his aching jaw that Cindy had gave him yesterday. "What the heck did you two do to upset Nick so much?"

"What you told us to do!" Sheen and Carl angrily shouted.

"Next time, we take the cute blonde and you take the two bloodthirsty monsters!" Carl said while shoving his finger into Jimmy's face.

"You really think she's cute?" Jimmy asked while looking a few tables over at Cindy. Carl and Sheen slammed their heads onto the table.

* * *

"I can't believe that little freak was trying to steal my backpack!" Cindy angrily said while sipping her milkshake. "I mean, what the heck was all that about?"

Libby sighed and took out a mirror from her purse. She began to pat her hair down into place. "I don't know, girl, but you sure got him good. How's your hand?"

Cindy sighed and shook her right hand. "It's a little sore. The weird thing is, I kind of hated to do it. I normally love pounding that Nerdtron."

Libby rolled her eyes while applying some makeup. "Gee, why do you think that is?"

Cindy looked around carefully. "Can you keep a secret?"

"Uh-huh," she said, not caring at all.

"I think, maybe, just maybe, I'm falling for him," she whispered.

Libby once again rolled her eyes. "Oh my gosh. That is _such _a shock. I had no idea," she monotonously replied.

"I know!" Cindy said, a little louder. "Can you believe it?"

Libby looked over her compact mirror and narrowed her eyes at her best friend. _She may be the second smartest kid in Retroville, but she's got some serious stuff to learn when it comes to love. _"No. I can't believe it. You almost gave me a heart attack," she sarcastically continued.

Cindy took another sip from her shake and shook her head. "Anyway, forget about that for now. You're still coming to the sleepover tomorrow night, right?"

Libby put away her mirror and smiled. "Definitely. Who else is coming?"

Cindy laid back and smiled. "Every girl in our homeroom class."

Libby nodded her head in approval. "Sounds like fun."

Cindy smiled wider. She moved her head closer to Libby's and whispered, "More fun than you know."

"What do you mean?" a now intrigued Libby asked.

Cindy jerked her head towards her backpack lying on the ground. "Let's just say I've got a little surprise for the girls."

* * *

Jimmy slammed some money down on the table as he finished his shake. "I just hope I'm wrong. If Butch and Nick don't have my journal, then the last suspect is Cindy." He glanced over at her. She was whispering with Libby about something.

"Because if she does have that journal," he said nervously. "Everything is going to change."

Carl and Sheen followed his gaze, thinking about the intensity of the situation.


	9. The Realization

**Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron or any related characters.**

"Well, I'll see ya," Cindy said while throwing a few dollar bills on the table. "Tip's on me."

Libby finished slurping up the last remains of her strawberry shake. "Where are you going?"

Cindy smiled and slung her backpack over her shoulder. "I'm going to get all my homework for the weekend done tonight. I don't want to have to worry about it tomorrow night at the party."

Cindy waved good-bye at Libby and was about to head out the door when she paused. She turned towards the booth where the three boys sat. "See ya later, Jimmy," she cheerily said before walking out.

Jimmy, Carl, and Sheen stared at each other for a moment. "That was kind of weird," Sheen muttered, summing up what Cindy had just done. He looked over at Libby, who was getting ready to leave. He snapped his fingers. "Hey, I just remembered I have to ask her something. I'll be right back," he told his friends while dashing over.

"Hey Sheen," Libby happily said while walking outside.

Sheen followed her. Carl and Jimmy shrugged and decided to tag along. "Hey Libs," Sheen nervously muttered. "I was, uh, wondering if I could ask you something?"

Libby smiled and shook her head, amused. "Sheen, we've been a couple for a while now. You don't have to act all nervous when you want to ask me for a date."

Sheen seemed relieved. "Want to catch a movie tomorrow night? I hear that _Brokeback Mountain _is awesome. Two manly cowboys living the guy's life, roughing it out in the wilderness. I want to be just like them when I grow up," Sheen dreamily said while flexing his muscles.

"Oh," Libby sadly began, "I'm sorry, Sheen. I'm busy tomor..."

"But you just said!" Sheen exclaimed. "Well you're just a big tease!" he exploded while spinning around and beginning to walk away.

Libby laughed and grabbed his shoulder. "I'd be happy to go next weekend, Sheen. It's just that Cindy's having a slumber party tomorrow night, and I promised I'd make it."

"Oh," Sheen said while turning around and continuing walking. "That sounds interesting. So what do girls do at slumber parties anyway? Get down in their jammies and have pillow fights in giant tubs of jello?"

Carl and Jimmy slammed their palms onto their heads. "Yeah, that about sums up the whole night," Libby said with disgust. "But Cindy says she has a big surprise for all the girls."

Jimmy, Carl, and Sheen suddenly stopped dead in their tracks. Libby noticed that Sheen had stopped following her. "What's wrong?" she asked while turning around.

Jimmy gulped and tried to speak, but he couldn't. He cleared his throat. "Um, do you have any idea what this, uh, _surprise _is?" he asked, using air quotes around the word surprise.

"All I know about the _surprise_," Libby said while imitating Jimmy, "is that it will supposedly be very fun. Or was it funny?"

Jimmy tugged on the collar of his shirt. "Um, Libby, about how many girls would you say are going to show up for this little slumner party?"

Libby laughed. "I wouldn't call it little. Every girl in our homeroom is going to be there. And plus I think Libby's gathering a few more tonight. She seemed really excited about this big surprise. Maybe, uh, two dozenwill show up. Why?"

Jimmy covered his eyes and looked down at the ground. He ran his hands through his hair and tilted his head all the way back. "No reason," he angrily muttered.

She continued walking, but still the boys didn't follow. "You guys coming?"

Jimmy shook his head. "I, uh..." his voice trailed off.

"We've got to, uh, you know," Carl tried to explain.

Sheen looked at the two guys for ideas. "Yeah," he finally said with a shrug.

"Whatever," Libby muttered while rolling her eyes and continuing down the sidewalk. "You bunch of freaks," she whispered under her breath.

**Author's Note: Once again, I changed my user lookup. It's a history of my stories. Check it out and tell me what you think.**


	10. The Flashbacks

**Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron or any related characters.**

"My god," Jimmy nervously said to Sheen and Carl. "Nearly twenty-five girls hearing about my deepest, most innermost thoughts. And once they hear about it, they'll put it out on the girl's network." Jimmy grabbed Sheen's shirt and yanked him down so that he could stare him in the eyes. "Do you know how fast the girl's network travels? It's like a thousand girls an hour!"

Sheen calmly took Jimmy's hands off of his shirt. "Well, let's look at the bright side." He smiled and stopped talking. Carl and Jimmy stared at him for a few moments.

Jimmy motioned for him to continue. "Go on."

"Oh!" he shouted. "_I_ don't have a bright side. You're the genius. You find one! It'll be like a game!" Sheen ecstatically said while hopping up and down and hitting his fists together in glee.

Jimmy sat down on the curb and balanced his head against his hands. "I'm dead. Life as I know it is over."

Carl and Sheen took a seat beside him. Sheen patted his friend on the back. "Well, it's not _that_ bad. Look at it this way," Sheen explained. "Me and Carl are pretty much the only two people who know about your crush on Cindy. Now think about how little we've made fun of you about it."

Carl stared at Sheen. "Don't worry, I'm going somewhere with this," Sheen reassured his friends.

Jimmy sighed and closed his eyes. He began to remember what Sheen and Carl had done to him over the years.

* * *

_"Ok," Ms. Fowl began. "It's the last day of school. As I've promised, you may come up here and sing a song for extra credit. Who wants to go first?"_

_Carl raised his hand. "Yes, Carl? You want to go?" the teacher asked._

_"Actually, me and Sheen are doing a duet," he said while running up to the front of the room. Sheen slid to a stop beside him. _

_"Ah-hem," Sheen coughed. "Hit it Carl!"_

_"Jimmy and Cindy sitting in a tree!" Carl shouted._

_"K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" Sheen shouted. "Come on, everybody! Join in!" Jimmy slammed his head down on his desk.

* * *

_

_"Truth or dare?" Libby asked. Nick, Butch, Carl, Jimmy, Cindy, Brittany, Betty, Eustace, Libby, and Ike were sitting in a circle in Brittany's basement one rainy afternoon._

_"Truth!" Carl shouted._

_"Alright," Libby began. "What is one major secret you know?"_

_Carl rubbed his chin for a moment. "Um, Jimmy has a major crush on Cindy!"_

_Everyone turned to stare at Jimmy. "Uh, that Carl," Jimmy nervously said. "Look! A wall!" he said while pointing behind everyone. He quickly dashed out the door.

* * *

_

_Jimmy, Cindy, Carl, Libby, and Sheen were walking down the street one day after school. "Jimmy, why do you love Cindy?" Carl loudly asked. "Especially after you're always insulting her?"

* * *

_

_"Show us your sculptures, class!" Ms. Brown said while strolling around her art classroom._

_Jimmy pulled the sheet off of his. "I made an atom!" he proudly said._

_Cindy whipped her sheet off. "I made a unicorn!"_

_Sheen yanked his sheet off. "I made Jimmy and Cindy sitting in a tree kissing! It's based on a song me and Carl made! Hit it Carl!"_

_"Jimmy and Cindy sitting in a tree!" Carl began.

* * *

_

"Jimmy! JIMMY!" Carl shouted into Jimmy's ear.

Jimmy shook his head and snapped out of his trance. "Huh? What?"

Sheen stared at Jimmy. "Now that you've remembered the near microscopic amount of abuse Carl and I've put you through, just imagine twelve times that amount. It's still really small, right?" Sheen said, his bright smile trying to offer hope.

Jimmy imagined that for a moment before clenching his teeth and turnng his head towards Sheen. "Ahhh!" he screamed while pouncing on him.


	11. The Deal

**Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron or any related characters.**

"We've got to hurry," Jimmy said while running down the street. He slipped a little as he rounded a corner. He clawed at the ground with his hands and pushed himself up. "We've got about twenty-four hours to pull this plan together."

Sheen and Carl struggled to keep up with Jimmy, who looked as if he was running for his life. "Jimmy, what exactly is the plan?" Carl questioned.

Jimmy ignored him as he finally reached the entrance to his laboratory. He leaned against the door for a second before opening his eye and shoving it close to his new retina scanner. He had found out the hard way that a certain blonde-haired beauty could easily break into his lab with a strand of hair.

"Move!" Jimmy shouted as he ran past the open door. He pushed a few buttons on the wall of the dusty shed. The floor slid out from beneath the three and sent them tumbling own a twisting tube into his lab.

"Ow!" Sheen shouted as he landed hard on solid concrete. "Why don't you put a couple of mattresses right there?"

Jimmy ignored him and jumped into a nearby rolling chair. He flew across the floor and came to a stop at his main work station. Jimmy pointed at the two phones on opposite sides of the room. "Get on those phones immediately. Call every guy in our classes. I want them all over here _right now_."

Sheen and Carl looked at each other. Carl shrugged and walked over to one of the phones. Sheen walked over to the other. "What do we tell them to get them over here?"

Jimmy slammed his head onto the table hard enough to make him a little woozy. "I don't care what the hell you tell them! Just get them over here!"

Sheen smiled and began dialing the numbers of every classmate he knew. "Bolbi? Yeah, it's Sheen. Get over to Jimmy's clubhouse right now. Why? Uh, free, uh, food."

"Ike," Carl said into the phone, "get over to Jimmy's house now. And bring every guy you know. We've got an alpha level situation over here."

Jimmy accessed his computer's directory and strapped on phone headset. "Nick? It's Jimmy. Get to my lab now. It's an emergency."

So this continued for several minutes. Jimmy glanced upwards at his security monitor. He noticed about twenty boys impatiently standing outside. He hit a button marked _Emergency Entrance_. The ground slid out from under the kids. They quickly landed in a heap on his lab.

"What kind of sick welcome is this?" Nick asked while picking himself up and bushing off his clothes. "And you," he shouted while pointing at Sheen. "I'm not too fond of you at the moment.

Sheen rubbed his two black eyes. "Ditto."

Carl and Butch started yelling at each other. Soon the whole place was enveloped in chaos.

"Everybody shut up!" Jimmy shouted at the top of his lungs. "There is an emergency and I need your help."

Nick's gaze hardened. "What? Those stupid Yolkians again?"

"Uh, no," Jimmy said.

"Meteorite?" Butch asked.

"Not exactly," Jimmy mumbled. "It's kind of, a, uh, personal emergency."

The guys glared angrily at Jimmy and then looked towards Nick. He nodded, and they all advanced towards Jimmy.

"Wait!" Sheen shouted. He jumped in front of Jimmy and blocked the crowd. "He has helped you with your homework, saved the town, and provided you a butt for your jokes for years! The least you could do is hear him out!"

"What about the food?" one kid in the back asked.

"In a minute!" Sheen shrieked. Once again, the guys looked at Nick. He thought for a moment before snapping his fingers and pointing downwards. They went to sit down, but Jimmy hit a button on a nearby wall. Dozens of seats emerged from under the floor.

"Thank you," Jimmy said. "Goddard, display holographic projection screen. Run slides A3, D7, and Q9. Switch slides when I say _next_."

What looked like a video camera popped out of Goddard's back. Carl flicked the lights off. Behind Jimmy was a realistic looking projection screen.

"Everyone, I've brought you here for a special reason. As many of you know, we were recently given an assignment by our loud-mouthed teacher Ms. Wolf. Next." A picture of Ms. Wolf appeared behind him.

"Ms. Wolf told us to write a journal entry. I wrote something incredibly important and personal in that journal, thinking it would never be seen by anyone. But this journal has been stolen. I had three suspects. Nick, Butch, and Cindy. That is why Sheen and Carl stole your backpacks. They needed to see if you had the journal. But I now know that Cynthia Vortex is in possession of this valuable notebook. Next." A slide of Cindy in the dress she wore for the fifth grade graduation dance appeared on the holographic screen.

"Cindy is having a slumber party tomorrow night. And I have reason to believe that she will be sharing the contents of said journal with her friends tomorrow night. It is absolutely critical that we prevent her from doing this. Which is why I've called you here. Next." A blueprint of Cindy's house replaced the last image.

"Here is the design of Cindy's house. I need you to help me infiltrate it tomorrow night, get that journal before she reads it, and get out. Terminate hologram." The picture behind him disappeared.

"Of course this is only the basic layout of my plan. If you're willing to help me, I can go into greater details."

The boys turned to Nick. He asked the obvious question. "What's in it for us?"

Jimmy smiled. "I can offer you the opportunity to use my high-tech gadgets, be part of an exciting mission, and maybe some free food afterwards."

Nick thought for a moment. "There are two other conditions."

"What?" Jimmy asked, excited that he might be getting help.

Nick straightened himself in his seat. "First off, I want to know what is in that journal. And second, well, let's see if you do the first before I tell you." The guys nodded their approval.

Jimmy looked to Carl and Sheen for help. They just shrugged. Jimmy sighed. "Nick, please hear me out. This journal, I, can't begin to explain what's in it. It holds a secret I've been guarding for three years. If Cindy and those girls read it," he paused, struggling for words. "If they read it, you can't even begin to imagine the pain I'll go through. This journal contains my heart, my soul. I just, I can't live with myself if anyone knows what's inside. Please, Nick, don't make me say it. I haven't even said it out loud to myself."

Nick stared at the pitiful boy in front of him. He didn't know why, but something about Jimmy struck a cord in him. He sighed and shook his head, smiling a little. "You're a sweet talker, Neutron. Alright. First condition met."

Jimmy breathed a sigh of relief. "But you're not going to like the next condition," Nick added.

"What is it?" Jimmy asked, too happy to worry about what Nick was going to say.

Nick leaned forward. "You say there's a girl-only slumber party tomorrow night. Every guy in the world wants to know what goes on in one of those. And you just might be the guy who can help us find out. You plant some of your high-tech mini-cameras, which I'm sure you have, inside that house in several convenient places. I want to know exactly what those girls do when guys aren't around."

Jimmy leaned against the wall and looked down at the ground. Nick was asking a lot. Besides being against the law, bugging Cindy's house wasn't exactly ethical. _But stealing my journal wasn't exactly ethical. And she's played a lot more jokes on me than I have on her over the years._ Plus, Jimmy was a little curious about what those girls would be up to himself.

"Deal," Jimmy said. He walked over to Nick and outstretched his hand.

Nick smiled a little and shook it. "So what do we do?"


	12. The Meeting

**Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron or any related characters.**

Jimmy's face was covered in sweat, his hands trembling slightly. His eyes suddenly fluttered open. His pupils immediately contracted as the bright sunlight filtered into his room. He lay in his bed, lying straight on his back. He stared up at the ceiling, thinking about last night.

He had told Nick and the other guys to drop by his lab by five o'clock tonight. He would go over the plan in more detail then. He didn't know exactly when the sleepover would start, and he didn't know how long the girls would be there before Cindy read the journal to them. Worst of all, he didn't know if Cindy had read the journal yet.

* * *

Cindy finished her breakfast and ran back upstairs to her bedroom. She jumped onto her computer's chair and rolled across the room. She put a hand out to stop herself as she reached her desk. She smiled devilishly as she began sorting through the backpack on top of the desk. 

"Well, what has young Jimmy Neutron written about today?" she whispered to herself while grabbing the journal. She was about to flip it open to the first page when she heard her mother yelling from downstairs.

"Honey! Take Humphrey out for a walk. It looks like he has to go to the bathroom."

Cindy sighed. She flipped through the book quickly. She noticed that he had written quite a bit for only one day. _Must be something important. Probably about Little Ms. Perfect, Betty Quinlan._ She snarled a little at that thought and threw the journal back down on the desk. _Might as well be surprised with the rest of the girls. Less than twelve hours, anyway._

She trudged down the stairs, taking them two at a time. She grabbed the leash that lay strewn across a chair in the living room. "Come on, Humphrey. Here boy!" she shouted while clapping her hands against her knees. Humphrey slowly lumbered over.

"Hey buddy," she whispered while patting his head. The big dog rolled over and began kicking his feet with delight. "Yeah, you always were a bog softie," she mumbled with a smile while rubbing his tummy. "Come on, let's go for a walk," she said while clipping the leash around his collar.

She led the dog outside and closed the door behind her. She looked around. It was a beautiful day, the sun peering over a large white cloud. It wasn't too cold and it wasn't too hot. She closed her eyes and enjoyed it for a moment until she felt the slack in the leash disappear.

"Alright, I'm coming, I'm coming," she happily said while running down the street, Humphrey happily following her.

A short time later Cindy walked into the park. "Let's take a break, ok buddy?" she asked Humphrey. The dog just stared blankly at her as she tied the long leash around a tree. She let out a deep sigh and sat down on a nearby bench. She let her head fall back and closed her eyes.

"It's a beautiful day, isn't it boy?" she mumbled while yawning.

"Who you calling boy?" a familiar voice asked.

She opened her eyes to see Jimmy standing over her. She smiled. "Hey Jimmy," she said while patting the bench, "sit down."

Jimmy smiled and shook his head as he took a seat behind her. "You call me boy, you tell me to sit down, I thought we were past the insulting stage."

Cindy looked into his deep blue eyes. "What are you doing here. You following me?"

Jimmy motioned at Humphrey. Goddard was carefully sniffing his canine arch-nemesis. "Just taking him for a walk. I assume you're doing the same."

Cindy just nodded as she watched the two dogs begin to wrestle. "What really brings you here, Jimmy?"

Jimmy turned to stare at her once again. This time his eyes were more serious. "What do you mean?"

Cindy continued staring at the dogs. "You always take Goddard for a walk in the evening. Six o'clock," she stupidly said.

Jimmy raised an eyebrow. "And _I'm_ following _you_?"

"So what do you want?" Cindy asked.

Jimmy picked a twig up off the ground and began peeling the bark off of it. "I was just wondering if you read anything, _interesting_ lately." He noticed Cindy's body straighten.

Cindy stared at him for a moment. Her eyes briefly relayed fear. She finally cleared her throat. "No. No I haven't."

Jimmy smiled a little. "Really. That's interesting."

The two kids stared at the other for a moment, trying to figure the other out. "I suppose it is," Cindy whispered after a while. She looked down and noticed that their hands were touching. She stared at their connected hands quizzically. Every time that had happened, she had felt like she had been electrocuted. Lightning always seemed to pass through her.

Jimmy grabbed her cheeks suddenly. A little roughly, too. He pointed her face towards the dogs, who were now wagging their tails and playfully nipping at each other. "Look at them."

Cindy was freaked out. "What the hell are you doing, Neu-?" she began to ask, but Jimmy cut her off.

"They've known each other as long as we have," he said, his tone oddly serious. "They nearly killed each other at first. But slowly, ever so slowly, they began to warm up to each other. Funny how that happens. And not just in dogs."

Cindy remained quiet, not understanding what he was getting at. "As the years went by, they slowly got used to each other. Goddard to Humphrey's boldness and strength, Humphrey to Goddard's intelligence. And plus, Goddard is different. He's metal. He's..._special_."

"You could say that they're friends now, as far as dogs go. But when they first saw each other this morning, only a couple of minutes ago, they attacked each other. Not as viciously as years ago, but it was still an attack. Because that is their nature. Because of their past, they are naturally hostile towards each other. No matter how close they get, there will always be their past, forcing them to attack."

He turned towards Cindy, who was deathly silent. They stared into each other's eyes. He released his grip on their cheeks. "Is there anything you want to tell me?"

Cindy had no idea what to do. He obviously knew something about the journal. _Or he's just a freak_. Cindy slowly shook her head.

Jimmy smiled, he had known that she wouldn't admit it. He leaned forward and stared deeper into her eyes. Their heads were barely inches apart. "I'll see ya, Cind."

He got up and grabbed Goddard. "See ya, Humphrey." He bent down and scratched the dog behind his ears. He started to walk away, but turned around. "Oh, yeah, I forgot to ask. What time is that slumber party of yours tonight?"

Cindy was a little surprised that he knew about it. "Um, it starts about eight. Why?"

Jimmy turned back around to hide his smile. "No reason. Just was wondering what time I should look out my window to see Betty," he said while walking away.


	13. The Arsenal

**Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron or any related characters.**

Jimmy was waiting outside later that day, leaning against the door to his clubhouse. He sighed and glanced down at his watch. He frowned. "God, it's already six o'clock. We don't have much time to prepare." He looked up and saw that the sun had almost set.

"Hey Neutron," Nick said while jogging over. About two dozen boys followed behind him.

"You're late," Jimmy angrily said while allowing the security system to scan his retina.

Nick followed Jimmy as they entered his clubhouse. "Dude, by like thirty seconds. Chill."

The floor beneath the boys instantly slid away. They began to slide down the winding tunnel. They landed on a pile of soft mattresses that Jimmy had recently placed there. "Come on," he said while ushering the boys further into the lab.

"You've got to hit _A_!" Carl shouted as Sheen struggled to activate his laser beam.

Sheen bit his lip while furiously pressing buttons on his X-box's controller. He stared up at the giant monitor that was Jimmy's main computer. "No you don't! The manual's wrong!"

"That's stupid!" Carl shouted while struggling to take the controller away from Sheen.

"You're stupid!" Sheen shot back while kicking Carl.

"Ah-hem," Jimmy coughed while coming to a stop behind the two boys.

Sheen and Carl turned around. "Oh, hi Jimmy," Sheen nervously said.

"What'cha doing?" Jimmy asked while looking at the screen.

Sheen glanced back at the screen, and then back at Jimmy. His face contorted into horror. "Oh my god! The Yolkians are back!" he screamed. He turned back around and finally activated the laser by hitting _A_. The enemy ship exploded.

Sheen turned back around to face Jimmy. "Oh my gosh, that was close. Thank goodness I installed this new, uh, remote controlled weapon slash video camera satellite on the moon while you were away."

Jimmy raised an eyebrow. "Then what's that?" he asked while pointing to the X-box."

Sheen thought for a moment. "Power box."

Nick tapped Jimmy's shoulder. "You leave these guys alone in your lab?"

Jimmy sadly shook his head. "Yeah, I never get why." He motioned for Sheen and Carl to follow him as he led the boys into another room.

"Gentlemen, thank you for meeting here once again. If you'll follow me over here, I have the blueprints for the Vortex house outlined on this table."

Jimmy walked over to a table with a white screen and pressed a button. An extensive layout of a house took up one-third of the screen. He pressed a few more buttons, and the layout of the yard appeared as well.

"There are twenty-three of you, plus Carl, Sheen, and myself," he said to himself while counting everyone. He pressed a few more buttons. On the side of the screen appeared twenty-six dots, each colored differently.

"We don't have a lot of time, so please listen carefully. I don't want to have to repeat this," Jimmy instructed. He picked what looked like a pen up from the table. "This is the Vortex house," he said while pointing to the blueprints.

"This, of course, is our main objective. There are three floors. A main floor, a second floor, and an attic," he continued, pointing to each floor. "The first floor is almost certainly where the sleepover will be held. There are far too many girls to fit in Cindy's room, so they must all be spending the night in the living room."

"Now, here is the plan. Nick will walk up to the front door and ring the bell." Jimmy put his pen on the dot that represented Nick. He dragged it to the Vortex's front door. "Hopefully Mrs. Vortex will answer. You'll quickly go inside for some reason. You'll have to make sure the girls are in the living room. You'll exit and report to me."

He looked up from the table and stared at everyone. "Everyone getting this so far?"

Nick nodded. "Just one question. Why do I have to be the one to go inside the house?"

Jimmy smiled. "Cindy adores you. If she answers the door, she'll certainly let you in. If I do it, she'll probably slam it shut in my face."

"Ok.Go on," Nick instructed.

"While he is doing this, twenty of you will be assembling yourself in the trees." He dragged twenty dots and placed them in trees. There were four kids in five trees around the house. "You will be the lookouts. You will be looking through the windows and relaying information to us at all times."

"Meanwhile, the remaining six of us will circle to the back of the house. That will be me, Bolbi, Carl, Sheen, Ike, and you, Nick. We'll scale the wall and climb up to the roof. We'll slip inside, and the rest I'll explain there."

The guys stared at Jimmy as he flipped a switch underneath the table. The screen shut off. Jimmy smiled and looked at his army. "So, everybody got it?"

Everyone began speaking at once. Jimmy couldn't tell if they were confused or not. Nick stuck two fingers in his mouth and whistled loudly. "Everybody shut up for a second!" The roar immediately died down. "Jimmy, this makes sense, but there's one problem. We're going to need a lot of high-tech stuff. Where are we going to..." his voice trailed off as he realized who he was talking to.

Jimmy just smiled and walked up to the door to another room. Everyone followed him. He took out a security card and swiped it through the slot. He opened the door and flipped a light switch as everyone crowded around him.

"Dude, there's nothing here," Butch said.

Jimmy hit a button below the light switch. Thirty chrome trays immediately slid out from the wall. Each tray contained various devices. The guys noticed that a glass cube was surrounding six of the trays. "What's that about?" Sheen asked while pointing to the cube.

Ignoring Sheen, Jimmy led the group inside the large room. "Now, I didn't know exactly how many kids there would be to help me, so I prepared supplies for thirty. Everyone except Sheen, Carl, Nick, Bolbi, and Ike, go get your supplies. There is a walkie-talkie, a camouflaged outfit, black paint to camouflage your faces, flashlights, and high-powered binoculars."

Jimmy pointed to the glass cube. "Those are the special supplies for us six that are going inside the house. Everyone else, please gather your stuff and leave the room. Find someplace private and change into your camouflage." He watched as the guys left the room.

Jimmy then turned back around and faced the five other guys in the room. "Let's get our stuff." He walked over and grabbed a small hammer that was hanging from the wall. He smashed the glass. "I feel the glass cube added dramatic affect," he explained.

Everybody grabbed their tray and examined what was on it. Jimmy pointed to each item and explained what they were. "I made sure that I used every ounce of my knowledge to equip us with the best stuff possible. First off, we have the walkie-talkies. We also have the binoculars. Nick, you'll notice that I have included several miniature video cameras on my tray. When we get inside, I'll put them in strategic places. But not the bathroom."

Nick smiled. "Hey, I'm not a pervert, Jimmy. I just want to hear them talk."

Jimmy nodded. "But here is the difference from the other guys' supplies." He pulled out a gun with a what appeared to be a sharp harpoon on the end. "This is a grappling gun. We're going to need this bad boy to get up to the roof. What you have to do is aim it and pull the trigger. The sharp end should lodge itself in a wall or something. Press the trigger again and the rope will pull you up. Just hold on to the gun and hang on. The rope can carry up to four hundred pounds, so there's no way that it will break."

Once thatexplanation was done, hestrapped the grappling gun to his leg with some ropethat was on his tray. The other guys did the same. Jimmy thenpicked up what looked like a laser gun. "I call this the sleeper rifle. I only have six, that's why six of us are going inside. When a person is hit by this, they will be incapacitated for thirty minutes. They will be completely paralyzed and asleep."

Jimmy held up a tube of bright green liquid. "Now, I didn't have much time to make these. I've had a lot to do since yesterday. This is the extra ammo pack. They have two shots. Your gun has one shot inside it. So, you have three shots in total. Use them wisely."

Everyone picked up their guns and extra ammo. They studied them carefully. "Now, if you want to place the extra ammo pack inside, you pull back this slide. The empty vial will eject itself. Place your replacement vial inside the chamber. Push the slide back in. Then you're good to go," Jimmy explained while demonstrating. Once he was done, he placed the half-full vial back in place. He put the spare vial that conained two shots in his pocket.

Jimmy sighed and looked up at the clock. It was about seven o'clock. He didn't know how long Cindy would wait to read the journal. It was better to be safe than sorry. "Nick, assemble your men. Get them together and tell them what they need to hear. We're shipping out in five minutes."


	14. Up, Up We Go

**Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron or any related characters.**

Nick came back several minutes later with all of the boys behind him. Jimmy looked them over. "You guys all know what to do?" he asked.

"Yes, they do," Nick answered for them.

Sheen smiled and reached into his pocket. He pulled out a pair of sunglasses and flipped them open. He slowly placed them over his black eyes. He grabbed a soldier's helmet off of a table and placed it neatly on his head. He then stared down at the sleeper rifle in his left hand. He tucked it inside his waistband. The others saw him do this, and did the same.

"Everybody, let's move out," Jimmy finally said.

* * *

Jimmy slowly approached the door to his clubhouse. The pack of boys stood silently behind him. Jimmy swung open the door and braced himself up against the wall. He pointed at two boys in the group. He gestured at two trees outside. 

The boys nodded their heads and ran outside. They ducked behind two trees. One They both took out their binoculars and took a look around. They looked behind them and nodded.

Sheen ran outside and jumped across the lawn. He hit the ground hard and rolled to the curb. Silent as the wind, he crawled across the street. Bracing himself up against a parked car, he took out his walkie-talkie. "I'm in position."

Nick and Jimmy stared at each other and smiled slightly. Jimmy nodded and sent Nick out. Nick ran across the lawn and slid underneath an overhanging branch. He looked to his left, then his right. He saw the two boys still standing there. He grabbed their arms and pulled them to the ground. They crawled across the street, their stomachs getting scraped by the hard cement.

Nick and his two soldiers came to a stop beside Sheen. The four of them peeked their heads above the care. They stared intently for a moment before frowning. Sheen got up and ran back across the street.

"Jimmy, there's absolutely nobody there," Sheen flatly stated.

Jimmy took a step outside. He noticed that there were no lights on in the Vortex house. "Well, um, ok then. Let's continue on." He looked at the twenty-two young men behind him. "Alright, get to the Vortex's lawn."

Taking one last cautious look, Jimmy and the boys ran to the Vortex's lawn. They stood assembled in front of Jimmy. "Split up into five groups of four." The boys did as they were told. Jimmy pointed to a group and then to a tree. He repeated this four times. "Scale the trees and get ready."

Jimmy, Bolbi, Carl, Sheen, Nick, and Ike watched as their fellow men climbed the trees with ease. "They're doing good, Nick," Jimmy commented.

Nick nodded with satisfaction. "They're the best of the best, Neutron." They all suddenly froze as headlights appeared down the street.

"In the bushes!" Jimmy whispered while diving into some brush. The others did the same. Jimmy and Nick pulled away some leaves in order to see. Their eyes followed Cindy, her parents, and Libby walking inside the house. Suddenly the first floor lights came on.

Jimmy looked to his right. The other five stared intently at the door. "Carl, bottom left corner. Ike, bottom right. Sheen, top left. Bolbi, top right. Nick, right side in the middle. Everyone split up and go to your corresponding walls of the house."

The six walked out from behind the brush. They got down on their stomachs and crawled around to different parts of the house. Jimmy braced himself up against the middle of the left wall of the house. He glanced from side to side and saw Carl and Sheen. He pulled out his walkie-talkie.

"Suave Squirrel, this is Captain Chaos. Suave Squirrel, this is Captain Chaos. Do you copy?" Jimmy asked.

Nick pressed a button on his walkie-talkie. "Read you loud and clear, Captain Chaos. You in position?"

"In position. Corner guys, sound off. Start in top left-hand corner and move clockwise."

Sheen pulled out his walkie-talkie. "Captain Chaos, this is Perilous Pigeon. I'm in the top left corner of the house. Everything is going well."

Bolbi struggled to work his walkie-talkie. "Stupid Salamander here. Yeah, I'm here," he said in his goofy accent.

Ike looked up and saw four kids fidgeting in the trees. "Black bear here. Waiting for next command, Captain Chaos."

Finally, Carl talked into his two-way radio. "_Porky Pig_ here." He muttered his code name with disgust. "Why couldn't I have been Lama Lover? It's a good name!"

"Focus!" Jimmy shouted as loud as he dared. "Bulbous Bully, you in the trees?"

Butch continued staring through the binoculars. He was amazed how well they worked. He could count the tiny hairs above Mrs. Vortex's nose. He used his free hand to press the _talk_ button on his walkie-talkie. "Yeah, I'm here Captain Crud."

Jimmy was about to reprimand Butch, but Nick beat him to it. "Bulbous Bully, this is Suave Squirrel. None of that bullshit tonight. This is a serious operation. You listen to Captain Chaos, ok? For tonight, he is your leader and your superior. Got it?" he seethed.

Butch sighed. "Whatever. To answer your question, yes. The guys are all in the trees. I'm staring inside the kitchen. Cindy's parents are in there drinking coffee."

Sawyer, another kid in the trees, talked into his walkie-talkie. "Captain Chaos and Suave Squirrel, this is the leader in tree two. I can see inside the living room. Cindy and Libby are watching TV in there. You might want to send Nick in."

Jimmy nodded and squinted his eyes. Now it was time to really start the action. "Suave Squirrel, get inside that house and do your thing. The rest of us, get to the back of the house. Suave Squirrel, get there when you finish."

Nick nodded from the other side of the house. "You got it, Captain." He started to round the house when he heard Jimmy's voice.

"Suave?" Jimmy was saying over the walkie-talkie.

"Yeah Captain?" Nick whispered.

Jimmy paused as he reached the back of the house. Carl, Sheen, Bolbi, and Ike were already waiting there. "Thanks a lot for this. You're doing great."

Nick looked down at the ground. "Yeah. No problem."

Shoving the walkie-talkie into his pocket, Nick walked up the stairs to Cindy's door. He was about to ring the doorbell when he slapped his forehead. He took the sleeper rifle out of his waistband and placed it on the dirt near the steps. He certainly didn't want Cindy to see that. "Close one," he muttered.

Taking a deep breath, he rung the doorbell. His nervous frown instantly transformed into his famous smile. He placed his hands in his pockets and bobbed his head a little.

"Nick?" Cindy asked while opening the door. She quickly fixed her hair a bit before motioning him inside. "What, um, what are _you _doing here?"

Nick wiped a bead of sweat from his lower lip. He also fixed his hair, although it was just to give his shaking hands something to do. "Oh, uh, I was just taking a walk when I went by your house. I needed to asked you something."

Cindy stared up at him. "What?"

Nick cleared his throat and looked inside the living room. He waved at Libby, who just nodded and turned back to the TV. "Well, did we have any homework in math this weekend?"

Cindy stared at him curiously for a moment. "Oh, um, no. Old Heinman let us off this weekend," she said with a slight chuckle. "Is that all? You want to stay for a moment?"

Jimmy was pressing his ear up against the walkie-talkie. He bit his lip so hard he felt a trickle of blood flow down his chin. _What the hell is she doing? Is she flirting with him?_

"No she's not," Sheen comfortingly said while patting Jimmy's shoulder. Jimmy stared up at Sheen with an amazed look on his face.

Back inside the house, Nick was shaking his head. "Uh, no thanks. I better get going." He headed back to the door. He had his hand on the doorknob when he suddenly snapped his fingers and turned back around. "Oh, yeah, I almost forgot. I hear you're having a sleepover tonight."

Cindy smiled and flipped her hair. "Yeah, I am. But I don't think I can let you stay for that," she said while brushing his arm.

Nick took a step back and nervously laughed. "No, I should hope not. That would be highly inappropriate." He paused for a moment and ran his hands through his hair again. "So, you holding it in the living room?"

Cindy squinted one eye and took her hand off of his arm. "Um, that's a strange question," she said while backing away.

"I'm a strange guy, Cind," he said while flashing her his smile once again.

It worked like a charm. Cindy's confused face melted into one of bliss. "Oh, I don't know about that." She paused for a moment before and stared into his eyes. "Yeah, we're sleeping in the living room."

Nick nodded, amazed that his plan had just worked. "Well, have fun. See ya Monday, Cindy."

With that said he quickly rushed out the door, picked up his sleeper rifle, stuffed it back into his waistband, and headed to the rear of the house. "Made it, Neutron," he whispered while meeting up with the other five guys.

Jimmy stared at him angrily for a moment before finally shaking his head. "What?" Nick asked.

"Nothing," Jimmy muttered while taking out his grappling gun. The others did the same. He fired it up onto the roof. He yanked on it and was glad to feel that there was tension. It had hooked onto something.

The others did the same as Jimmy looked at them. "Well, here we go," he muttered before pressing the trigger once again. The gun pulled him up to the roof.

**Author's Note: I added a section in the last chapter to include the grappling gun. I had forgotten to incorporate an explanation of that invention.**


	15. Behind Enemy Lines

**Disclaimer: I don't own Jimmy Neutron or any related characters.**

With surprising skill, Jimmy grabbed onto the roof's ledge and pulled himself over. He grabbed Nick's hand and helped hoist him up. They helped the others climp up, especially Carl.

"Wait here," Jimmy instructed the others, "while I get us a way inside." Jimmy ran off to the center of the roof and took out his pen laser. "Hello old friend," he whispered while kissing the polished metal.

Nick peered over the ledge of the roof and noticed the ruined areas of the wall where their grappling guns had hit it. He ran over to Jimmy and was surprised to see him cutting a large hole in the roof. "Um, dude, should we really be destroying her house?"

Jimmy took out his grappling gun with his free hand. He fired it onto the middle of the circular wood he was cutting. As he finished cutting the hole, the wood fell towards the floor. He pressed the grappling gun's trigger again and the wood was pulled up.

Jimmy then turned to Nick. "Making a couple of dents and a small hole in her house is the smallest of our worries at the moment. Believe me, I've done a lot worse," he reminisced while smiling.

"Alright everybody, over here," Nick told the four others, who were waiting by the edge of the roof. They ran over and stopped by Jimmy. The six of them stared down the hole.

"How deep is it?" Sheen asked, trying to get a glimpse of the floor with the small amount of light the moon was emitting.

Jimmy ignored him once again and pulled out his walkie-talkie. "This is Captain Chaos. Bulbous Bully, what's the situation in the house?"

The radio only crackled static for a moment. "Cindy and Libby are still in the living room. They're setting some stuff up. The parents are heading upstairs. Wait," he said while peering through his binoculars.

"Tree Top Three here," another classmate said. "Visual contact with the parents acquired. They're heading into the bedroom on the second floor. Closed the door. They're watching Seinfeld. Oh, this is a good one." The kid laughed for a moment while Jimmy shook his head sadly. "Please, who would turn down a junior mint?"

Jimmy turned to Nick, who just shrugged. "Focus!" Jimmy shouted into the walkie-talkie. "Is it safe to head into the attic?"

"Definitely," Tree Top Three told Jimmy. "I'll let you know if there's any change in the parents' location."

"Captain," Butch's nervous voice exclaimed, "we've got about a dozen girls pulling up. They're coming together. God, I don't know how much time you've got. Get into that house, guys."

Jimmy stared down the hole for another moment. Finally, he came up with a plan. "Alright, here's what we're going to do. Me and Nick are going to grab Sheen's legs. We'll dangle him as far down into the hole as possible. We'll then drop you. Once you get inside, push something soft under the hole so we don't hurt ourselves when we fall in. Let's move," Jimmy anxiously said while turning around.

Sheen smiled a little and stepped forward. He got down on his stomach and stretched himself out. Jimmy and Nick each grabbed one of his ankles. "Ready?" Nick asked.

"Always," Sheen said, relishing every moment of this adventure. Jimmy and Nick held on as he crawled towards the hole. "Please hang on," he muttered while crawling into the hole.

He held his breath for a moment, but let out a sigh of relief as he realized that he wasn't falling. Nick and Sheen approached the hole, then bent down the opening as far as they could. "We've got to drop you," Jimmy said, his strained arms aching. "In three, two one, now!" he shouted as loud as he dared.

Sheen barely had time to feel the euphoria that accompanied a freefall. A second later he was sprawled out on the wooden floor. "Ugh," he muttered while rubbing his head.

"You alright?" a concerned Carl asked while peering down the opening.

Sheen smiled as he heard his best friend's voice. "I'm great, good buddy. We've got to go skydiving this summer."

Jimmy smiled and shook his head, relieved that Sheen was fine. "Yeah, I'll start planning that. But do you see anything that can cushion our fall?"

"Just a sec," Sheen shouted back up while groping the wall. He finally found the light switch. He flipped it on and took a look around. He ran back to center of the attic, where moonlight was streaming through the perfectly circular hole. He looked around and found an old futon. "Yeah, let me just move this."

The five guys on the roof heard some strained groaning as Sheen pulled the mattress across the floor. "All set!" Sheen shouted from below.

Jimmy and Nick stared at each other, eyes wide. "Ladies first," Nick said.

"Ha ha, how original," Jimmy mockingly replied while closing his eyes. "Bombs away," he whispered while jumping down.

"Yow!" he shouted, trying to suppress his shouts. He opened his eyes and saw Sheen staring at him. He rubbed his aching ass and stood up. "Yeah, come on down guys," he shouted to the four boys above.

One by one, they hopped down and joined Jimmy and Sheen. At long last, they were all ready. Jimmy whipped out his walkie-talkie once again. "This is Chaos again. We're all inside the attic, ready to move down to the second floor. Anything to report?"

Butch continued staring through the binoculars. "Chaos, there's about twenty girls there now. It looks like the sleepover's on a roll. The good news is that there's no sign of a journal or her backpack. But I'd seriously get a move on."

Jimmy gulped and shut his walkie-talkie off. He placed it in his pocket and led the group to the door. He opened it slightly and saw a large flight of stairs. He turned back around and looked at his five friends. "Guys, let's roll."


	16. The Other Side

**Disclaimer: I don't own Jimmy Neutron or any related characters.**

Cindy dreamily skipped around the kitchen while making tedious changes to the food lined up on the counter. "Can you believe it, Libs? I'm finally hosting a slumber party!" she happily shouted while jumping up in the air.

Libby rolled her eyes, but couldn't help smile at her friend's excitement. "Jeez, why are you so excited? I love slumber parties as next as the next girl, but you're running around here like a, um, well, you're just going crazy."

For a moment the cheer drained from Cindy's face. "Well, you know. Mom's crazy. She makes me take piano lessons and study so much that I've never had a chance to do this before. And you know how overprotective she is. I barely ever hang out with anyone other than you, and maybe Brittany.

Plus dad's gone so much on business that he can't really stick up for me. I guess," she said with a sad smile, "it's going to be fun to be a normal girl for one night."

Libby walked over to Cindy and grabbed her hand. "Well, then let's make this the best party ever."

Both girls froze as they heard several loud _thuds_ on the side of her house. They both turned to their right. "You hear that?" Cindy asked while walking over to the window.

Libby nodded. "Sounds like something hit the side of your house."

Cindy stared at the window for a moment before shaking her head. "Whatever. We've got more important things to do. The guests will be arriving any second."

As soon as she finished saying that, the doorbell rang. "Speak of the devil," Libby muttered while following Cindy to the door.

Cindy opened the door. "No kidding," she whispered to Libby. In front of her stood Betty Quinlan, with about ten girls standing behind her. "Hello, Quinlan," she said with mild disgust.

Betty smirked at her before walking inside. Her troop of girls silently followed her. "Hello, Cindy. Heard you were having a party tonight. Nick broke our date. Said something about an adventure with James. So I thought I'd come here." She smiled at Cindy and batted her lashes. "That is, if you don't mind."

Libby's curiosity made her react faster than Cindy. "Nick is hanging out with Jimmy? Neutron?" she asked, astounded.

Betty laughed a little. "Yeah, I was shocked too. But Nick's definitely hung out with worse."

Cindy dug her nails into her palms. She took a deep breath through clenched teeth before clearing her throat. "Yes, I suppose so. Please come on," she struggled to say while motioning them inside.

Betty threw her spring jacket on the couch before strolling inside. She peeked inside the kitchen before taking a seat in the living room. She crossed her legs and looked up at Cindy. "Well, this looks like you've went through a lot of trouble."

Cindy scowled. She was in her pajamas. She wasn't supposed to look this beautiful! And who the hell made up their hair for a sleepover? "Yeah. Wanted it to be fun."

A few minutes passed in tense silence before several more cars pulled up. A very relieved Cindy ran to the door and let them in. "Hello! Welcome! Thanks for coming!" she cheerily greeted each girl.

Everyone began chatting with their friends. Within a few minutes the ruckus had died down and everyone stared at Cindy. Libby nudged her, silently telling her to greet everyone as a group.

Cindy took the hint. "Well, welcome, everybody. We'll get to the food and whatever in a minute, but first I have a little surprise for everyone," she said, a hint of evil sparkling deep in her emerald eyes. "How many people here hate Jimmy Neutron?"

Libby laughed a little as nobody raised their hand. "Um, he can be a little irritating, but I don't _hate_ him," Brittany spoke up.

"He's kind of cute," Betty said with a giggle. Several other girls muttered their agreement.

Cindy sighed and slapped her forehead, dragging her hand down her face. "Alright, let me put this another way. How many of you would like to hear some of Neutron's private thoughts?"

This time everyone raised their hands and started eagerly talking. An evil grin spread across Cindy's face. "Good. Because I have something that will provide us with a little entertainment. But let's wait a little bit. Who wants to play truth or dare?" she playfully asked, her evil grin gone.


	17. The Subconscious Fight

**Disclaimer: I don't own Jimmy Neutron or any related characters.**

Jimmy emerged from the attic first. Once again, he took a long look around before proceeding down the stairs. His sleeper rifle gently hit his waist as he went down each step. "Come on, come on. We're good. I don't have much time," he muttered as he descended the staircase.

Jimmy finally stepped off of the last step. He braced himself against the wall and looked around the corner. _Coast is clear. Excellent_. He motioned behind him for the other guys to stop. They immediately froze.

Jimmy took out his walkie-talkie and flipped it on. "Chaos here. Tell me what's happening on both floors."

He waited a few seconds before the response came through. "Captain, the parents are still watching TV. They're probably not going to leave the bedroom for a long time. The girls are sitting in a circle. Probably playing Truth or Dare or something. That's about it."

Jimmy nodded and turned the radio back off. He put in in his pocket and signaled for the other guys to come closer to him.

"Ok, follow me," he whispered while getting on his hands and knees. He slowly crawled down the straight hallway, passing several doors in the process. He heard voices coming from the first one on their right. _Ok, keep a lookout for the parents in that room_.

As they reached the end of the hallway, they saw another staircase. A beautiful white staircase led down to the kitchen. This took up half of the width of the hallway. The other half had a wall. Jimmy smiled widely. _Perfect place to hide. Luck is with me tonight._

Jimmy leaned against the wall and then slid down to his knees. The other five crowded around him. "Ike, check if the notebook is in her room." Ike nodded and ran into the closest room on their right.

A moment later he came out empty-handed. "No sign of a backpack or a journal."

Jimmy frowned. _Looks like we're doing this the hard way. _"Alright, then here's how it's going down. Sheen and Nick, you're going to follow me. Carl, Ike, and Bolbi, you wait here. Keep in contact with the guys in the trees. If the parents come out of that room, knock them out with your sleeper rifles. Got it?"

Everyone nodded. "Good," Jimmy said. "Then let's get a move on."

Jimmy took his silencer gun out of his waistband. He wiped a few beads of sweat from his forehead and headed down the stairs. Nick took his gun out as well. He tightened his grip on the weapon and frowned in fear. Sheen ripped off his shades and tossed them at Carl. "Time for the Sheen to play the hero," he told his friend before following the others.

They took each stair slowly and one at a time. Jimmy carefully placed his feet so that the wood wouldn't creak. He had his gun drawn and held straight up by his cheek. Nick was close behind, breathing heavily and constantly swinging his gun. Sheen brought up the rear, his gun drawn. He walked backwards, his gun aimed back up the stairs.

After what seemed like an eternity to Jimmy, he finally reached the landing. He stared ahead and saw a stove and refrigerator. "Alright guys, listen up. I want this quiet and fast. Sheen, keep a lookout behind us. The bathroom's right behind the kitchen. Someone might come out from there. Just make it near the entrance to the parlor."

Sheen nodded. "Child's play," he muttered while continuing to walk backwards. He kept his eyes glued to the door that led to the bathroom. His gun was aimed at the center of it, his grip tightened on the trigger. _They won't even have time to scream_.

Jimmy found himself cursing Cindy's wealth. He had always known that she was better off than him, but he now knew she was bordering on rich. Her kitchen was huge. At the rate they were going, it would take them a full minute to cross it.

He ducked behind a counter in the middle of the room. _Why the heck do people think these island things are attractive? They're like a roadblock!_ Jimmy noticed that Nick was squatting down beside him.

"So, how do we get to that journal?" he asked. "All of the girls are in that room."

Jimmy slammed his head against the counter. "I'll get one of the guys on the radio and see if they can get its exact location in the room." He was about to pull out his walkie-talkie when Nick grabbed his wrist.

"And about my end of the deal?" he questioned.

Jimmy used his other hand to grab something out of his left pocket. He opened his fist to reveal several small black objects the size of raisins. "I'll plant these on the entrance to the living room. They have incredibly powerful microphones that will record everything said. It will record the area where the voices are coming from."

Nick nodded as Jimmy put the cameras back away. "Now if you don't mind," he angrily whispered, "I've got to talk to Butch."

As Jimmy was speaking into his walkie-talkie, Sheen flexed his fingers around the barrel of the silencer rifle. His began to drift from the bathroom door. He was crouched a small distance behind Jimmy, but he was still hidden from anyone entering the kitchen from the living room.

As his eyes moved from the door, he noticed a plate of piping hot sugar cookies on a nearby counter. _Sugar cookies_, he mouthed with delight. He struggled to keep his eyes on the bathroom door, but his appetite was quickly getting the best of him.

_In Sheen's Subconscious_

**"Prepare to die, Robofiend!" Ultralord shouted.**

**Robofiend laughed and twirled his mechanical claws. "Ha! You'll never defeat me! I shall get those cookies!"**

**Ultralord smacked his fist into his open palm. "Jimmy and Nick are counting on me. I won't let them down!" he shouted while charging towards his arch nemesis.**

**The two creatures clashed together in a death-lock. They rolled around the vast empty wasteland that was Sheen's head. **

**"Take that!" Robofiend triumphantly shouted while smacking Ultralord's head into a small rock the size of a pea. It was Sheen's brain.**

**"Darn it!" Ultralord screamed before crumpling to a heap.**

_Back in the Real World_

Sheen ran towards the counter and slid to a stop beside it. He tossed his gun onto the floor and picked up a glistening cookie, still soft from having been in the oven. "Oh cookie, your powers have once again taken over me," he muttered while sinking his teeth into it.

As Sheen dug into the cookie, Jimmy was nodding his head and listening to Butch's voice on the walkie-talkie. "Alright, I think we can reach that area without being seen. Good work. Chaos out." He turned towards Nick and smiled. "I think if we're careful we'll be able to reach the backpack, and the journal, without being seen."

Nick crossed his arms and nodded his head in approval. He turned around to see a girl coming out of the bathroom. She stared at him for a moment before screaming.

"A boy!" she shouted at the top of her lungs. Nick fired his silencer rifle, but it was too late. The damage had been done.

"Where the hell is that idiot Sheen?" he shouted at Jimmy. They looked over to see Sheen still eating cookies.

Jimmy's face fell as he heard the girls getting up. He slowly put his walkie-talkie away and grabbed his gun. "We're dead," he softly whispered.

Nick nodded. "Been a pleasure working with you," he sadly said.


	18. Ike's Story

**Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron or any related characters.**

As Jimmy, Nick, and Sheen began their descent down the stairs, Carl leaned his back against the wall near the staircase. He sighed deeply and slid down the wall to the floor.

"What's the matter?" Ike asked while taking a seat next to Carl. He took off his sunglasses and put them in his pocket.

"I don't know, man," Carl said while nervously fingering his silencer rifle. "You think Jimmy will be able to do this? I mean, there's like twenty of them down there."

Ike shook his head and pulled a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket. He pulled cigarette out and lit it. He took a deep drag before bending his head backwards and exhaling. "Don't tell me about odds, kid. I've been through a lot worse."

Carl stared quizzically at Ike for a moment. "You smoke?"

Ike shrugged. "If you've been through all that I have over twelve years, you'd be sucking down a pack a day too."

Carl edged closer to Ike and stared at his friend's nervous face. "Ike, you said something about a problem with a girl three years ago. What happened? What made you this way?"

Ike pulled the dangling cigarette from his lips and tapped a little ash onto the wooden floor. He studied Carl for a moment; saw nothing but curiosity. Bolbi was leaning against the entrance to Cindy's room, looking on at the unfolding scene.

At long last, Ike threw his cigarette onto the floor and stepped on it. He quickly pulled out another and lit it. He shoved it in between his lips, but they were trembling. The cigarette was shaking profusely. He finally pulled it out and threw that onto the ground as well. He banged his head against the wall for a moment before closing his eyes and running his hands through his hair.

"Ike?" a concerned Carl asked.

"It was three years ago," Ike began, his voice barely above a whisper. "Third grade. A time of innocence and growth. I had left behind second grade, I was looking forward to a year of independence and excitement.

I soon found the excitement. The first day of school, I saw her. Sandy. God, she was beautiful. Ten freckles on each cheek. Amazing how I can remember that after all these years, isn't it?" he asked, chuckling a little.

"Curly yellow hair, bright as the sun. It went down to her chin and bounced with every step she took. I, I, I had never seen a girl like her. She was, perfect. Sweet, beautiful, kind, all of that crap. It was love at first sight.

I took every chance I had to be with her. When there was an assignment where we had partners, I pushed everyone out of my way and ran to her. When we dodge ball in gym, she was always on my team. And when the dance came..." his voice trailed off. A single tear symbolically fell down his cheek.

Carl put his hand on Ike's shoulder. "What happened?" he whispered.

Ike shrugged Carl's hand off and turned around. He stared intently at a small crack in the wall. "It was the Valentine's Day dance. I had had a crush on Sandy for about five months. And the intensity hadn't changed at all. Well, no, that's not true. Each day that went by made me love her more.

Anyway, there was this kid in my class name Jack. We weren't that close, maybe spoken a few words at lunch here and there. But we ended up having a shake one day after school at the Candy Bar. We got to talking about the dance. He kept insisting how stupid girls were. You know, all that stuff."

Ike sadly shook his head at the memory playing in his head. "Now, I had kept this crush on Sandy completely secret for five months. Nobody knew a thing. But after all this time, I couldn't keep my feeling hidden anymore. I needed to tell _someone_, _anyone_."

"So I told Jake how I felt about Sandy. Not just that I thought she was cute or that I had a crush on her, but that I thought I loved her. I'll never forget the look on Jake's face. One of shock and horror. A boy liking a girl? It was absurd! Nobody had ever done that in the third grade!

He told everyone. The pointing, the laughing, the bullying. But there was one silver lining. Sandy had heard as well."

Ike paused for a moment, his back still at Carl. He twiddled with his thumbs while looking down the stairs. Jimmy and Nick were still a few stairs away from the first floor. _Could they move **any **slower?_

"Tell me what happened next," Carl urged.

Ike took a deep breath and continued sharing his horrific tale. "She asked me to the dance." Ike smiled a little while saying this. "And that made all the torture worth it. I was happy as could be until the day of the dance. My love had asked me out! It was amazing."

"So we met at the dance next week. I had a great time. Sandy and I danced, laughed, I even touched her arm. I swear to God, her skin was smoother than silk. And then it happened.

Jack was the DJ that night. He may have been a slimy bastard, but he knew his music. He called us up to the stage, saying that we had won a raffle. Looking back, I should have known better. But I was young and naive then.

So Sandy and I looked at each other and smiled. We grabbed each other's hand and ran up to the stage. The spotlight came on us, and everyone turned to stare at us. A lot of the guys were smiling. I grabbed a microphone that was on the stage and asked, 'What did we win?'

Jake just smiled and said, 'a night of humiliation!'

I looked up just in time to see it. A giant container of Hawaiian punch was placed on a beam above the stage. You know, the same kind of container on the bench at football games. Some guys pulled a rope and it tipped over.

Sandy and I were both drenched from head to toe and bright red Hawaiian punch. I was humiliated, but I was more worried about Sandy. I looked over and saw her crying. It was a horrible sight. Tears running down her red-stained face. She just looked at me. I think she thought that I was in on it. That's ridiculous, because I was also drenched in the stuff.

She ran out. I never saw her again. Rumor has it she was too humiliated to go back to school. Her dad got a job offer in Rhode Island, so her family gladly took it to help their daughter. I never even got to say good-bye," he sadly said.

Carl stared on at Ike, who just yanked out another cigarette and lit it. "I, I never knew." Carl sadly said.

Ike wiped the few remaining tears from his eyes. "Well, whatever. So I was humiliated and lost the girl I loved. It happens. And that's why I'm helping you and your idiot friend. If I can save one other kid, my pain will have been worth it."

"Really?" Carl asked.

Ike thought for a moment. "Well, no. It won't be worth it. But at least it'll be something."

Carl shook his head in amazement. "Jeez, I've been bullied in my day, but never like that. How did you go on?"

Ike smiled a little. "Two things. My smokes," he pulled a cross on a chain out from underneath his shirt, "and a friend upstairs."

Suddenly a shriek pierced through the three boys' ears. Ike and Carl immediately jumped up. "What the hell was that?" Ike nervously asked, his heart racing.

Cindy's parents immediately raced out of their room. Bolbi stared at them and fired off two quick shots, immediately knocking both of them out. "Bolbi got them!" he shouted while reloading his silencer rifle.

Ike looked down the stairs to see Jimmy and Nick standing back to back, both holding their guns. Suddenly a swarm of girls ran into the kitchen. Some of them looked up stairs and saw Carl and Ike.

Ike was sweating bullets as he saw several girls talk to each other and point up the stairs. He slowly pulled his shades out of his pocket and placed them over his eyes. "The lord is my shepherd," he whispered while holding up his gun. "I shall not want. He maketh me lie down in green pastures," he continued.

Carl stared at Ike, thinking that his friend had lost his mind. Several girls downstairs became ascending the stairs. He looked over at Ike, who was talking extremely fast now.

"He restoreth my soul. He leaden me in the path of righteousness for his namesake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod," Ike paused for a quick second to touch his sunglasses, "And thy staff," he aimed his silencer rifle, "they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies."

Ike paused another second to look down at the girls who were now halfway up the stairs. They moved cautiously, slowly. Ike continued praying. "Thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over." Tears started falling down his cheeks as the girls quickly closed the distance between them and the boys. "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever."

"Amen," he whispered while looking up. The pack of girls was right in front of him.

**Author's Note: I'm not sure how well this chapter turned out. Please review and let me know.**


	19. Run!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron or any related characters.**

"Sheen, God damn it!" Nick shouted while throwing nearby plate at the cupboard near Sheen's head.

Sheen placed his cookie back down on the plate and turned to face Nick. "What?" He then saw the girls running into the kitchen and pausing at the entrance, looking very confused. "Oh, yeah. My bad." He reached down to the floor and picked up his gun.

Cindy shoved her way to the front of the angry mob of girls. "What the hell do you think you're doing here?" Cindy screamed at the top of her lungs, her face red and her eyes blazing with hatred.

Jimmy took a step back, still keeping a careful grip on his sleeper rifle. "Um, well, it was a life or death situation, you see," he tried to say, his voice cracking every other word due to fear.

Betty tugged on Cindy's shirt and pointed to the unconscious girl on the floor. "Cind, look what they did to Emily," she whispered. "They killed her!"

Jimmy and Nick stared at each other, both silently cursing their luck. "Um, no, she's..." Jimmy started to explain, but Cindy cut him off.

"You're dead, you sick little freak!" she screamed at the top of her lungs while pulling a knife from a nearby drawer.

"Look!" Betty shouted while pointing upstairs. Ike and Carl could be seen looking down the stairwell.

Cindy was so furious that she could barely speak. "Get them all! Get them all!" she screamed while running towards Jimmy.

Betty and several of the girls stared at each other before running towards the stairs. Cindy and the remaining girls charged at Jimmy, Sheen, and Nick.

Sheen, realizing the mistake he had made a moment ago, decided to make up for this. "Take that!" he screamed while firing both rounds of his silencer rifle. Libby and Brittany fell to the floor. "That's not going to help our relationship," he groaned while staring at Libby lying motionless on the floor.

The three guys stared quickly at each other. Jimmy twirled his right hand in a circle and darted off to the living room, struggling to get past the mob of girls. Nick followed him, and Sheen ran into the bathroom and locked the door.

"I'm going to kill you!" Cindy screamed while chasing Jimmy. Jimmy ran as fast as he could and jumped over the couch. He landed on the coffee table, which collapsed as soon as he landed on it.

"I can explain!" Jimmy shouted while rolling out of the way just as Cindy pounced down onto the floor beside him. "It's a funny story, really!" he shouted while running through the living room and through a hallway.

The rest of the girls stayed behind with Nick for two reasons. One, they sensed that Jimmy and Cindy had to fight by themselves. And two, Cindy was seriously freaking them out.

"Ladies, um, hey," Nick squeaked while nervously flipping his hair, which landed in a heap over his eyes.

The girls glared at him before charging at him. Nick fired off the remaining round of his gun at the girls, which knocked one down. The other swarmed around him. "Back off!" he screamed while pulling a real gun out of his pocket.

The girls cautiously stood back while holding their hands in the air. Nick fired a warning shot straight up in the air. "Now I am leaving, ok? No funny business," he said, his hands shaking.

Brittany looked up at the ceiling where he had just aimed the gun. There wasn't a bullet hole. She then noticed the orange cap on top of the gun. "That's a cap gun, isn't it?"

Nick gulped and made a dash for the door, but the swarm of girls easily overpowered him before he made it halfway there.

Jimmy desperately ran down the hall and turned into a nearby room. He dared a look behind him and saw an enraged Cindy not far behind. "Damn it!" he screamed while tripping over an ottoman and falling flat on his face.

Cindy jumped on top of him and landed right on his gut. Jimmy tried to scream, but the wind had been knocked out of him. Cindy stared down at him and then at the knife, which she quickly threw across the room, realizing that that had been a rather bad idea.

"Ok, you're calming down. That's good," Jimmy said with a smile.

Cindy drew back her fist and hit him as hard as she could right in the mouth. He slammed his head against the floor. He tried to ignore the sour taste of blood in his mouth.

"What the hell did you do!" she screamed while he gently kicked her off of him and scrambled to his feet. They both stood five feet from each other, carefully circling around the room.

"Did I ever tell you that you are absolutely adorable when you're stark-raving mad?" he said as sweetly as he could.

Cindy screamed and charged at him, but he dove on the ground and rolled right into a wall headfirst. He was trying to stop the room from spinning around when Cindy approached him and struck him hard in the side of the head.

* * *

Meanwhile, Sheen was reloading his rifle and hiding in the bathroom. "Ok, ok, it's going to be fine," he tried to comfort himself. He sat down on the toilet for several moments, waiting for the door to swing open. As more time flew by, he became irritated. "Oh, so I'm not good enough to capture!" he angrily shouted while throwing his hands up in the air.

He pulled the walkie-talkie out of his pocket and flipped it on. "Sheen here. This is Estavez. Get the hell out of here. We've been found. Get out!" he shouted into the radio. He listened, but there was nothing but static on the other end. He angrily threw the walkie-talkie against the wall. "Damn it," he whispered while kicking the toilet.

_Alright, just make a beeline for the door. Get the heck out of this house and lie low for a few weeks. _He grabbed his gun and slowly opened the door. He peeked his head out and saw nobody in the kitchen. He stepped out and closed the door behind him.

"You too, Ultradork," Cindy said while appearing from behind the open door.

"Mommy!" Sheen shouted as Cindy began to attack him.


	20. War Zone

**Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron or any related characters.**

Carl aimed his rifle at the pack of girls that was in front of Ike. He fired a shot at Samantha, who was about to bash the terrified Ike's head in. The girls screamed and took a step back as she fell to the ground without uttering a sound.

"Come on!" Carl shouted while picking up Ike's fallen gun and tossing it to him. Ike snapped back to reality and caught it in midair. He aimed it at the girls, but they were too shocked to pay attention. The were kneeling down and inspecting Samantha, not even looking at the boys. Ike, Bolbi, and Carl ran down the hall and hid in Cindy's parent's room.

"Close door!" Bolbi shouted while ducking behind the bed. Ike slammed the door shut and adjusted his sunglasses. Carl hid behind the bed with Bolbi. Ike ran over and jumped across the bed, landing beside his two friends.

"Thanks for the help back there, Porky," Ike quickly said while fishing out his walkie-talkie. "Cover the door while I ask for help," he instructed the others. Carl and Bolbi nodded and aimed their rifles at the closed bedroom door.

Ike flipped the walkie-talkie on. "Anyone there? Listen. Black Bear here. Get inside of this house now and help us! We've been found out!" he screamed.

Ike waited for an answer, but none came. He sighed angrily and prepared his silencer rifle. Suddenly a garbled voice came over the radio. "Repeat transmission!" Ike shouted while scooping up the walkie-talkie.

"All gone," the voice moaned again. Ike bowed his head in fury and fear. _My god, they're in the trees_.

Carl ducked his head as the door flew open. The girls paused for a moment and stared at the unconscious Vortexes. They quickly ran inside the room. Bolbi took aim and took out another girl. He tossed his gun onto the ground. That had been his last shot.

"Positions!" Betty shouted as the laser ray flew past her. The girls braced themselves against the walls and the sides of a bureau. "Move!" she screamed.

Two girls ran forward and dove onto the ground as Carl fired his last shot. Bolbi ducked his head, and Carl desperately reloaded his rifle as a girl sitting near Betty slumped over, unconscious.

Ike was now freaked out. "We need air support! Get the chopper over here!" he screamed into the walkie-talkie. Images of kool-aid pouring down his head flashed inside his brain. "Not again!" he screamed.

Carl fired another shot that missed. He looked at the useless gun in his handsand tossed it across the room. He spun around and grabbed Ike by the collar. "What the hell is wrong with you? There is no air support!" he screamed while tears ran down his face.

He kicked Carl off of him and looked around. "It's over!" Carl screamed. "It's over, Ike!"

Images of kool-aid pouring over his head flashed through his brain. He threw the walkie-talkie onto the floor and grabbed his silencer rifle. He took aim at the pack of girls. "Like hell it is!" he shouted while firing his two shots.

"Fire!" Betty screamed. The two girls that had moved ahead jumped up and fired two flash-bang grenades.

"Ah!" Carl shouted as the blinding light pierced his eyes. He fell to the ground and writhed in agony while clutching his eyes..

"Where the hell did Cindy get a flash-bang grenade?" Ike screamed, his eyes shielded somewhat by his sunglasses.

"Ah!" Tree Top Three's voice screamed. Ike realized that it wasn't coming from the walkie-talkie at his feet.

Glass flew over the boys as Tree Top Three and a girl named Amy flew through the window. They had been fighting in the tree near the parents' window and had fallen off. They continued fighting as they rolled through the floor.

"Hand-to-hand!" Betty screamed while jumping up and running towards Bolbi. Her and another girl tackled Bolbi to the floor.

The remaining two girls ran at Ike. He prepared himself and grabbed his gun with both hands. He kicked at the first girl as hard as he could with his right leg. While doing this, he spun around and smacked the other girl in the side with his rifle. They both stumbled backwards. He jumped backwards and landed on the bed.

One of the girls lunged for him, but he bounced straight up and she flew right past him. The other girl stayed down. He stood up and surveyed what was going on around him.

"Argh!" Tree Top Three shouted as Amy grabbed his hair and slammed his head against the floor. "Bitch," he mumbled before passing out. Amy dashed towards the unsuspecting Ike, but Carl, still mostly blind, heard her.

"Ike!" he screamed while tackling the girl and sending her sliding across the floor. Ike turned around just in time to see this happen. He watched in horror as Bolbi succesfully fought off one girl, but Betty was now jumping off of him. Carl was barely conscious, he was completely hysterical at this point.

Ike and Betty stared at each other for a moment. Broken glass and blood littered the floor. Both of their eyes watered from the flash bang grenade. "Where'd she get the grenades?" Ike asked while grabbing his rifle and circling the room.

"Somebody said she bought them online," she said while wiping the hair away from her forehead. "Where'd you get the guns?"

Ike stopped moving and tightened his grip on the rifle. "Neutron," he muttered while running towards Betty. She jumped out of the way and hit the wall.

Silently and swiftly, Betty jumped to her feet as Ike ran at her once again. He ducked as she tried to hit him and smacked her in the side with the rifle. As she fell to the floor he pulled the spare vial of ammo from his pocket and quickly popped it in.

"Fuck you!" she screamed while grabbing a vase and running towards him.

"You wish!" he shouted back while shooting the laser into her face. She immediately fell onto the ground, the vase clutched in her grasp.

Ike looked down at the girls' second in command and sighed. _I got them. I got them_. He looked to his right and saw Carl, who was lying still on the floor. _Too much excitement for him._

He looked at the empty silencer rifle in his hands and frowned. He dropped it on the floor and ran his hands through his hair. He listened intently, but it was completely quiet all around him. _Jimmy, Nick, and Sheen must have taken out the rest downstairs. We'll get that stupid journal and head back to his lab. He'll figure out something to do there._

He snapped his head up as he heard something behind him. He spun around to see another group of girls inside the room. It was the group that had taken care of Nick. He stared intently at them for a moment. He curled the bloody hands that hung near his stomach into fists. Cocking an eyebrow, he smiled. "Let's do it."


	21. The Interrogation

**Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron or any related characters.**

**Author's Note: Several people have commented on how there was too much violence in the past two chapters. Remember, the girls had thought that Jimmy had killed one of them.**

"Ugh," Jimmy mumbled while painfully shaking his head. Cindy had really done him in. Slowly, he opened his eyes. "What's going on?" he asked himself, groaning in pain as he tried to stand up.

He tried to move his arms first, but quickly realized that he was tied up. He looked around and saw that he was in the parlor. Around him were all of the other boys, tied up like him. Ike's face was particularly bloody. _Wait, where's Sheen?_ he asked himself while noticing that his friend was not around.

"Well, well, look who's up," Cindy said with a scowl. She hopped over the couch that separated her from Jimmy. She smiled evilly while twirling a small knife in her hands. She ran up to him and yanked on his shirt's collar. "What the heck is going on around here?"

Jimmy gulped, his eyes darting from Cindy's enraged face to the knife clenched in her right hand. "Cind, put the knife down. We both know you wouldn't use that against me."

Cindy quickly glanced down at the knife and sighed. She tossed it across the room, her eyes glued back onto Jimmy. "What did those guns do? I checked the girls who were hit; they're not dead. But they're not looking too well."

Jimmy looked into Cindy bright green eyes."They knock you out for about half an hour. That's all. When they wake up they won't even have a headache." He paused for a moment. "Which is more than I can say for myself," he mumbled under his breath.

Cindy searched his face for signs of him lying, but found none. She still glared at him angrily, but let go of his shirt. "And my parents? One of the girls said they had been hit before they got upstairs?" Jimmy noticed that her voice held an unusual note when she asked about her parents. It was concern and fear.

Jimmy thought for a moment. "The guns were meant to be used on kids, not adults. Your parents are heavier. They'll be fine, but will take a little longer to wake up. Maybe three or four hours." He paused a moment and took a breath. "Everyone's going to be fine, Cindy."

Cindy began pacing around the room. She stopped to stare at a new dent in the wall. Jimmy suddenly remembered the question that he had wanted to ask. "Where's Sheen?"

Cindy frowned. "The little freak's pretty wily. And he's not afraid to bite," she muttered while rubbing the red spot on her arm. "I don't know where he is. He probably ran back home to his mommy."

Jimmy smiled, thinking that everything was settled. But Cindy still had one more question to ask. "Now what," she yelled, pausing for dramatic effect, "are you doing in my house attacking my guests?"

Jimmy heard Nick coming to as he continued glaring at the back of Cindy's head. "Hey, you brought this on yourself. I wasjust trying to save my own ass."

Cindy laughed and spun around to face Jimmy. "What the hell are you talking about?"

Now it was Jimmy's turn to laugh. "Like you don't know. As usual, _Vortex_," he spat out her last name for the first time in a while, "everything is completely your fault."

"What?" Cindy screamed, completely flipping out. "God, you are so dead," she muttered while walking menacingly towards Jimmy. Her shouts had awoken most of the people tied up around the living room. The unconscious girls that lay in the corner began to come to. The rest of the girls emerged from the kitchen, where they had gone while Cindy went to interrogate Jimmy.

Cindy paused right in front of Jimmy as everyone stared on in silence. "You are such a little...little...whatever! You break into my house," she began, counting off each item on her fingers, "attack my guests, _destroy my house_, knock out my parents, and then you accuse me of causing all of this?" she laughed with disbelief. "I'm going to kill you!" she finished while grabbing Jimmy's collar and hoisting him up.

"Oh no you're not!" a familiar voice shouted while sliding into the room from the kitchen. "Because I have the answer to everyone's questions."


	22. The Old Switcharoo

**Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron or any related characters.**

**Author's Note: Only a couple more chapters after this one.**

Everybody immediately switched their gaze from Cindy and Jimmy to Sheen. He was standing in the entrance to the parlor. He held a plastic bag in one hand. His hair was disheveled and his clothes were torn slightly. His eyes held a combination of fear and excitement.

The girls immediately stood up to take Sheen down, but Cindy motioned for them to stay put. "Everybody just stay where you are. I want to know what the hell is going on here, and this screwball is the only person who's willing to tell me."

The girls looked at each other, but they all sat back down. "Thanks, Cindy," Sheen said while flashing her a wide smile. "Before I begin, I have a request. Ladies, please untie my friends."

Cindy glared at Sheen for a moment. Libby stared intently at Sheen, wondering what the heck he was up to. She had just woken up a few moments ago. "Let's just do it, Cindy," she pleaded, eager to end this horrific night.

"No funny business," Sheen promised. Cindy sighed and snapped her fingers. The girls warily untied all of the boys and slapped the unconscious ones awake. "Over here, buys," Sheen instructed. The guys walked over beside him.

Jimmy grabbed Sheen's arm and yanked him close to his face. "What the heck are you doing?"

Sheen's face suddenly became deadly serious. "What has to be done for us to get the heck out of here," he said while shaking Jimmy's grip off of him.

"Well," Sheen said to his audience, the smile back on his face, "everyone just please sit down. I know you ladies must have a lot of questions about what has happened here tonight."

Everyone grudgingly sat down as Sheen said. Jimmy eyed him warily while taking a seat next to Nick. "Should we trust him?" Nick whispered to Jimmy.

Jimmy sighed and ran his hands through his hair. "Might as well."

Sheen cleared his throat and set the plastic bag down on the floor. "Well, let me start at the beginning. I believe it was...yes, it was yesterday. Yesterday in English our foul-mouthed teacher Ms. Wolf gave us an assignment. Can anyone tell me what that assignment was?" Sheen scanned the audience, but nobody raised their hands. "How about you, Ms. Vortex?" he cheerily said while strolling over to Cindy.

Cindy clenched her teeth in anger and took a deep breath. "We had to write in a journal," she muttered. She was beginning to have an idea what this was all about. "We had to fill a page in a journal."

"Bingo!" Sheen shouted while snapping his fingers. "That's correct, Cindy. Round of applause for our brilliant guest?" he asked while walking back to the center of the room. "No? Well, ok then."

As Jimmy began to worry about his friend's sanity, Sheen continued telling the story. "Now, Jimmy wrote a whole mess of crap in that journal. Although I know the contents of it, I am sure Jimmy would not want me to digress from this story and explain what he wrote. Right, Jimmy?"

"Right," an embarassed Jimmy muttered.

Sheen began pacing back and forth between the middle of the room. "Well, I'll just say the journal had some _very_ important stuff in it. When we came back from lunch, Jimmy's journal was gone. It was pilfered by a preppy and pretty prepubescent young lass named..." he stopped there. "Who was that girl? Come on, who stole Jimmy's journal?" Sheen shouted while angrily glaring at Cindy. Sheen was getting pretty fed up with the drama between Cindy and Jimmy and just wanted to get home to watch Ultralord. "Who stole it?" he screamed in Cindy's face.

"I did, you psycho!" Cindy shouted back. "I stole his stupid journal!"

Sheen calmed down and stepped back from Cindy. "You see, Cindy stole that journal. In English class, Jimmy had dropped it on the floor. When she bent down to retrieve it for him, he flipped out. She realized that whatever was in that journal was extremely important to him."

Jimmy glared at Cindy. "So she stole my journal so that she could read its contents to you girls at this slumber party. She was prepared to reveal one of my most private secrets to the whole freakin' class!"

Sheen took a deep breath and moved his hands downward. "Calm down, Jimmy. I'm running the show here." He turned to the girls.

"Now, try to understand Jimmy's point of view. He had been holding in a secret for years without telling anyone. It was getting to him. He figured that a journal was a great place to vent out this secret. But then he realized that you, Cindy, stole it. And worse, you wanted to share it with the entire world. Now don't you think that's a little cruel?"

Cindy looked at the floor and scratched the back of her neck. "I guess. I didn't know it was _that _big of a deal," she whispered after a moment.

Sheen nodded his head. "So Jimmy wanted to get it back, which is perfectly understandable. He asked us guys to help. We never knew it would turn into all this mess. We just wanted to sneak in, grab the journal, and get out."

Sheen stopped talking and noticed that the girls were thinking. "So basically, Jimmy just wanted to get back what Cindy had stolen. He never meant to hurt anyone. He was just getting back what Cindy did. I'll admit that he took rather extreme circumstances, but it was a rather extreme situation."

Everyone seemed to be nodding their heads and thinking Sheen's words over. Sheen walked over to Cindy. "Now Cindy, I want you to apologize for violating Jimmy's privacy." He stepped away so that Cindy could see Jimmy.

Cindy sighed and stood up, as did Jimmy. "I'm, well...jeez. I'm sor...sorr...sorry that I stole your journal. I didn't think that what was in it was worth all of this."

Jimmy nodded his head. "And I'm sorry that I did all of this. I should have just talked to you instead of breaking into your house."

Sheen walked beside the two, who were both staring at the ground and shuffling their feet. "So, are we all good?" he asked while patting each one's shoulder.

Cindy and Jimmy looked up and smiled at each other. "Yeah, we're good," Cindy admitted while stretching out her hand.

Jimmy eagerly took it and shook it. "We're good."

Sheen smiled and walked back over to the plastic bag. He reached inside and pulled out two small white notebooks. He strolled back over to Jimmy and Cindy. He handed each one a journal. "Here are your journals, guys. Sorry I went through your backpack, Cind," he muttered.

Cindy eyed him angrily for a second, but quickly smiled. "It's alright."

Sheen laughed a little. "Guys, let's get the hell out of here."

Jimmy smiled at Cindy. "Friends?" he cautiously asked.

Cindy smiled back. "Definitely."

They both turned around and began walking back to where their army was sitting. They flipped through the first few pages of the journal, glad to have them back and that this whole ordeal was order.

Both kids immediately paused at the same time. Sheen leaned against a wall and smiled. Jimmy had his mouth hung wide open, his hands trembling. His gaze was fixed on the pages of the journal. His eyes scanned the words quickly. He turned the page and continued reading what was inside. Cindy was doing the same.

"My god," Cindy finally muttered, her voice barely above a whisper. "This isn't my journal."

Jimmy and Cindy were reading each other's journal. Sheen had given them the wrong one. Both were too entranced by what the other had written to worry about their own secret being revealed. They both stopped at the same time on the last page, reading the same sentence in both journals.

_So basically, I love her_, Cindy read, her eyes wide.

_So basically, I love him_, Jimmy read, his eyes wide.

"You love me?" they both asked while looking up at each other.

The group of boys who were standing behind Jimmy stared at the girls, who were looking back at them. They couldn't believe what they had just heard. Both genders lay symbolically split across the room, staring at each other.


	23. At Long Last

**Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron or any related characters.**

Everyone continued staring on at the scene that was unfolding in front of them. Nobody had any clue what to do. They had never imagined that Cindy and Jimmy would admit their feelings for each other. They simply sat back and watched.

Jimmy continued staring at Cindy. She stared back. Both their fingers were still outstretched towards the other. At long last, Jimmy glanced back to the last sentence in her journal.

_So basically, I love him_. He read it again and again, still not believing that it could be true. _She's writing a story. Maybe there's another guy named Jimmy she likes. Maybe...maybe it **is** me._

Jimmy gulped and folded the journal up. Everyone's gaze was fixed on him. Cindy slowly did the same and let her hands fall near her stomach.

Jimmy then finally asked the question that had been on his mind for nearly three years. _This is it. We find out now_. "Cindy," he said, his voice squeaky. He swallowed. "Cindy," he said again, this time his voice confident, "do you love me?"

Cindy would normally have jumped back and laughed, but this time it was definitely different. She cleared her throat and twirled her ponytail in her fingers. "Um, well, do you love me?"

"I asked first," Jimmy said, nervous.

"So?" Cindy shouted.

Now it was Nick's turn to get upset. _I helped this little freak_, he angrily thought to himself, _I break into someone's house for him, I don't get my video of the party, I get beat up by **girls**! _he screamed inside his head. _And now these two lovebirds are going to stand here and argue about the obvious?_

Nick ran forward and grabbed the journals from each of their hands. Jimmy and Cindy would have protested, but Nick did not look like he was in the mood to be interrupted.

"Hold on," Nick angrily said while flipping through the pages of Jimmy's journal. "Aha!" he shouted while pointing at a line about halfway down the page. "I guess I've always kind of liked Cindy. But lately, it's become obvious that I love her."

Nick tossed the journal at Jimmy and rifled through Cindy's. "Alright, this will do," he mumbled while his eyes stopped scanning the page. "And although he'll always be a freak and a nerd, maybe I do love him...I guess."

Nick tossed the journal at Cindy and pointed at her and Jimmy. "You both love each other. It says so right there. Now my job here is done, and I'm aobut ready to go home. So can you please just admit the obvious?"

Cindy and Jimmy looked at each other. Both were blushing and smiling. They finally had run out of excuses to deny their love for each other. "Well, um, I guess if it's already been said," Jimmy whispered while coughing.

"We might was well make it official," Cindy continued, taking a step closer to her love.

Jimmy smiled wider and leaned his forehead against hers. "I love you, Cindy," he said. He was amazed at how easily the words that he had been hiding for years came out.

Cindy's eyes glowed. "And I love you, James," she said with a giggle.

Jimmy and Cindy leaned in and shared their first kiss. "Awwwww," everyone shouted.

Cindy broke the kiss and angrily turned to everyone around them. "Oh will you shut..." she tried to say, but Jimmy grabbed her cheeks and pulled her back into the kiss.

Nick finally smiled and let out a sigh of relief. "About damn time," he muttered while walking towards the front door.

"Nick, wait!" Sheen shouted while following him.

Nick paused and turned around. He looked at the battered boy in front of him. "What is it, Shine...I mean Sheen."

Sheen beamed as Nick remembered his name. "Sorry I stole your backpack. Guess you know why I had to do it."

Nick smiled and grabbed Sheen's shoulder. "It's alright. Just don't do it again," he playfully growled.

He turned to leave, but Sheen stopped him again. "Where are you going?"

Nick scratched the back of his head. "You guys don't need me anymore. I better get home."

Sheen laughed. "Come on! Cindy's parents are out for four hours! And who else around here can throw a great party?"

Nick smiled and shrugged. He walked back to the living room. "Well, might as well." He paused for a moment and glanced at Cindy and Jimmy. "Good work with the journals, you know. I never would have thought of switching them like that."

Nick continued walking, but Sheen stayed still. "Um, yeah. Yay me!"

Nick stopped in his tracks and turned around. "You, uh, did do that on purpose, right?"

Sheen shuffled his feet. "Um, yeah. Definitely," he said with a fake smile. "Come on, let's get this party started," he nervously muttered while running into the kitchen.

Nick just stared after him and smiled. He shook his head in amusement. "Crazy bastard."


	24. The Party

**Disclaimer: I don't own Jimmy Neutron or any related characters.**

"They're right under the counter!" Cindy shouted. She was lying across the couch, her head in Jimmy's lap. He was absent-mindedly playing with her hair.

"I don't see them!" they heard Nick's distant voice shout from the kitchen. A large crashing sound attracted everyone's attention. "They were behind the pots!"

Nick smiled as he finally found several cartons containing cans of soda. "Sheen, get ready!"

Sheen smiled as he stood at the entrance to the living room. "Ready, Suave!" he shouted. Nick began tossing cans of soda at Sheen. He caught them and tossed them around the room.

Nick smiled as he walked into the kitchen, opening a can of coke. "Everybody got one?" He saw all the kids nod. "Alright, let's get this party started. Sheen get the," he began.

"Already on it!" Sheen excitedly shouted while popping a CD that Libby had handed him into the stereo. He pressed the play button and stood back. He began to nod his head to the music.

"Told you this was a good CD," Libby muttered before spinning around and walking away.

"Hey, wait!" Sheen shouted while grabbing her arm. Libby sighed and spun around. "Come on," Sheen begged, "are you still mad about me shooting you?"

Libby placed her hands on her hips and glared at him. "Alright," Sheen continued, his expression a little more sad, "I know how that sounds. But you heard my explanation. What choice did I have?"

Libby continued staring angrily at him. "You could have told me what was going on. I could have helped."

Sheen's eyes widened and his face fell. _I, uh, didn't think of that_. "Well," he said, thinking fast, "who would you have helped? The guy you're sometimes reluctant to call your boyfriend? Or your best friend since kindergarten?"

Libby continued staring at Sheen, who seemed a little hurt. "You really think I would have helped Cindy humiliate Jimmy like that? Jimmy is my friend too, you know."

Sheen sighed. "But I wasn't sure! I couldn't take that chance! Jimmy's social existence was at stake! Please try to understand," he pleaded while grabbing her hand.

Libby stared at him for a long moment before finally smiling a little and shaking her head. "Yeah, alright. But you're on thin ice!" she playfully shouted while shoving him a little.

Sheen laughed as well and wrapped his arms around her chest. "Now, we've got a bigger problem," he seriously said while pointing at Cindy and Jimmy. They were sitting on the couch, laughing and hugging each other.

"Those two are going to be getting more romantic than us soon. How do we stop that?" he asked with a smile.

Ike sat next to Carl on the ground near the wall. He was holding a damp washcloth. He glanced over to see Sheen and Libby laughing. He sighed while cleaning the cuts on his face.

"You think I'll ever find love again, man?" Ike asked. He cringed as he wiped a large cut on his right cheek.

Carl laughed slightly. "Hey, at least you've got stuff to work with, buddy. I'm fifty pounds overweight, nerdy, and have glasses."

Ike put the washcloth down. "Not to mention we've attacked every girl in our homeroom class." He looked down at the floor and frowned. "Once that gets put out on the girls' network, we won't have a date until college."

Carl sorrowfully nodded. "But who needs girls anyway? They just lead to trouble. None of this would have happened if Jimmy hadn't liked Cindy," Carl muttered.

Ike listened and nodded his head. "Yeah! We don't need them. You and me, buddy. That's all we need," he said while outstretching his fist.

"Amen!" Carl shouted while curling his hand into a fist and hitting his knuckles against Ike's.

"Excuse me," a tall, skinny blonde girl said while walking up to the two.

"Yeah?" Carl asked, his mouth hanging slightly open.

"I'm Amanda, and this is Sarah," the tall girl said while gesturing to her equally attractive friend.

"We think that what you did for your friend was really cool. Even if it did involve nearly killing us all," Sarah said while smiling.

"You want to dance?" they both asked.

Ike and Carl looked at each other. "You were kidding about the not needing girls thing, right?" Ike asked.

"Definitely," Carl said while jumping up. He grabbed Sarah's hand and began to dance. Ike did the same with Amanda.

Butch was sitting on a chair, cowering in fear as each girl walked by. He was by far the most injured of all the boys. Nick walked by and noticed how beat up he was.

"Dude, what happened?" he asked, not really that concerned.

Butch touched the huge gash across his forehead. "My god, man. Those girls are on steroids, I swear!"

Nick eyed Betty across the room. "Sure they were, Butch. Sure they were," he muttered while walking towards her.

Sheen and Libby plopped down on the couch beside Cindy and Jimmy. The four of them smiled at each other. "Well, one hell of a night, right?" Libby asked while playfully shoving Sheen's head off of her shoulder.

"Definitely," Cindy and Jimmy answered at the same time.

Sheen seemed distracted for a moment as he looked out at the crowd of kids milling around. "Well, will you look at that," he said with a smile.

Libby, Jimmy, and Cindy followed his gaze. At first they didn't notice it, but then it hit them like a barrel of bricks. Almost everyone was near someone of the opposite sex. Carl and Ike were dancing with Sarah and Amanda. Nick had his arm around a giggling Betty's neck. Nearly everyone was holding someone else's hand.

Libby looked over at Jimmy and Cindy. "Well, after seeing you two get together, I guess they took the hint and finally realized that the moment was right," she told them.

The four friends looked over at the stereo as the music was suddenly cut off. Nick was clearing his throat and walking towards them. "Ahem!" he muttered while tugging on his collar. Nobody listened. "AHEM!" he shouted.

Everyone shut up and paid attention to him. "That's better," he said while standing in front of the sofa. "I'd just like to make a toast. Tonight, we saw what nobody would have ever expected. Jimmy and Cindy got together. And as I look around the room, I see that many of you have followed their example," he happily said while eyeing all the couples.

"And so I wish you two the best of luck," he said while turning around to face Jimmy and Cindy. He then turned back around to face everyone else. "Hell, I wish all of us the best of luck! To Jimmy and Cindy!" he shouted while taking a chug of soda. Everyone did the same. "To Sheen and Libby!" he shouted while taking another sip. "To couples everywhere!" he said while laughing.

"To couples everywhere!" everyone shouted while laughing and smiling.

Nick took the final sip of his soda. He crumpled the can in his fist and threw it across the room. He turned around and grabbed Sheen's arm. He pulled him off of the couch and wrapped an arm around his neck.

"And here's to the guy that made it all possible. Thanks to this idiot, the impossible happened." Nick turned to Sheen and stared him in the eyes. "Thanks to you, nothing will ever be the same."

"It will be better," Jimmy finished, his voice serious. "Thanks, buddy."

Cindy nodded. "You did good, Sheen," she agreed.

Sheen smiled and looked at all the kids around the room. "Well, um, thanks." He turned around and faced Jimmy. "How long until Cindy's parents wake up?"

Jimmy closed his eyes and did some quick calculations in his head. "If we all stay to clean up, we can party for another two hours."

Sheen spun back around and faced the crowd of kids. "Then let's make this the two best hours ever!"

The crowd cheered and began to laugh. "Man, it's just too bad that the whole videotaping the sleepover thing didn't work out, huh guys?" he said while taking a seat beside Libby.

Everyone instantly froze. No sound was heard at all. "What did you just say?" Cindy asked while turning to face Sheen.

"I said," Sheen started to respond. He then paused as he realized his mistake. "Oh," he muttered. Nick hung his head down low and sighed.

All the girls took a few steps away from the guys and glared at them. Cindy slowly turned her head to stare at Jimmy.

Jimmy began to nervously laugh. He scooted down the couch as far as he could. "Um, uh," he began, but he realized there was no way to get out of this. He gulped. "Do you hate me?" he asked, his voice full of despair.

Cindy shook her head and smiled. "No, I still love you." Jimmy smiled as well and breathed a sigh of relief. "That's way I'm giving you a full minute's head start."

Jimmy began to laugh, but saw that she was serious. "Um," he said, but then jumped up and ran out the door. The guys ran over to the door and watched as Jimmy disappeared down the dark street.

All of the guys turned around to see a pack of girls breathing down their necks. "Um," they all said before darting out the door.

"Jimmy, wait up!" Nick screamed as he pulled ahead from the rest of the boys.

The girls turned around and stared at Cindy, silently asking what to do. She stood up and leaned backwards. She frowned slightly as she heard her back crack. "Well," she said while straightening out, "a girl's work is never done."

She walked to the pack of girls. They stood aside as she went to the open door. She peeked her head outside and saw the last of the boys disappear down the street. "Fifty-eight, fifty-nine, sixty." She smiled as she said the last number. "Girls, let's get 'em!" she shouted while charging out the door, two dozen girls right behind her.

**Author's Note: Could it have ended any other way?**


End file.
